Codes Of Honor
by Distant Storm
Summary: There are codes of honor. Reasons why Kai won't let them take too much of a beating. Reasons he sometimes can't fathom, other times, he can see why as clear as day. So when he's taken down, that reason will be made clear. Bbreakers and Bboys focus.
1. Prologue

**Author's Notes:** This is the longest introduction to a story that I've ever written. And it's just a little four part type deal that doesn't exactly sum up much or tell you where I'm going. I love it. Hopefully you will too and you'll keep reading!

**Disclaimer:**The only thing I own is the plot line. And my Oc. The rest of it, obviously isn't mine.

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Codes Of Honor- Prologue

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"Come on, push it a little more, Tala, you're almost there."

"I'm going, Rissa, I'm going."

She nodded and set her jaw, biting her lower lip for just a second, then threw out her hand and the beyblade before her spun faster. "And so am I, so come on, you can do it."

He clenched his hands together and closed his eyes. "Wolborg! Come on!"

She smiled as the bit chip in his white beyblade glowed a chilling blue color. "Stay in control, don't get angry."

"Humph."

She turned and looked at the lavender haired boy whose arms were crossed as he sat against the wall impatiently. "Chill out Bryan, I told you that you were next, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but I don't want to-"

"Wait your turn! I'm going to beat her, then you can fight her!"

"Tal, Bry, guys, chill out."

"Come on, please Wolborg!" The cool blue color began to pour from the bit, rising up at a slow, but steady pace. "Novae Rogue!"

The blue took shape as a wolf and sent ice daggers straight ahead as it surged at the girl opposite him. "Dodge it, let's go." Her beyblade took a sharp turn, coming up around the white beyblade so that it was now in front of her own. Her own beyblade, one of a metallic bronze color, surged up toward his and tapped it ever so slightly so that it's spin was disrupted. She smiled jokingly at him. "Tag, you're it."

His beyblade recovered faster than she anticipated and rammed back at her own, sending it back a ways. "Now _you_ it, Muhrissa" he said, stumbling over his words. She smirked, knowing full well that the four-year-old was trying his hardest. Somewhere in her own five-year-old mind, she registered that there was something morally incorrect about the man watching them, though she didn't use those types of words just yet.

"This is not childsplay," The man said, his violet hair pulled back into a greasy ponytail. His beady little eyes were hidden behind red lensed glasses whose frames were black and covered most of the upper part of his face. "Now stop playing around and someone finish this!"

"Wolborg!" Tala called and Marissa noted his fear in the attack. Boris did as well, as she had seen him cracking the whip that he typically attached to his belt. It was now in his hands. She drew in a deep breath and held up her hand, the metallic beyblade spinning ever faster. She quickly took advantage and removed his beyblade from the arena, without so much as a blink of her crisp and bright blue eyes.

The man with the greasy hair and long green jacket sauntered over to Tala. He lowered himself to one knee as the child picked up his beyblade and met his reddened gance. The man removed his glasses and Tala could see amber colored eyes.

From Marissa's end, she grew angry, and just a touch protective. She didn't know what it was, but as a group leader, she knew both of what was coming, and of the fact that this man could do whatever he wanted to them.

"Now then," The man said, looking Tala in the eye. The four-year-old did his best to cover up whatever fear he had of the man. "Tala, how old are you?"

He looked over the man's shoulder to Marissa, who nodded. He took a quick breath. "Four, sir."

The man smiled cruelly, his teeth displayed like pearls amongst the darkness the rest of him gave off. "How many days until your fifth birthday?"

Tala looked up at him and shuddered. "Four, Boris, sir."

Boris nodded accordingly. "Thank you. Now you and Bryan stay here. There's something we should show you." Marissa's blue eyes hardened quickly, as she knew what was coming. "Now Marissa, how much is four times four?"

She growled her answer. "Sixteen."

"_Sir_?" He asked her back. She looked up and realized her mistake. "Inevitably," he said with a yawn of boredom, "What is sixteen times two?"

"Thirty-two, _sir_."

He smiled. "Good. Rudolph, come here." A scary looking man in armor and a large cone-looking hat came into the light and cast his steely gaze to Boris.

"Yes sir?"

"Hold Miss Tatibana still. We all know what the penalty is for poor training and bad mouthing."

"Yes, sir." The man came toward Marissa, picking her up and holding her, so that her chin rested on his shoulder, and so that her face was also within plain sight of both Tala and Bryan. She met their eyes and smiled gently at them.

Both Bryan and Tala's faces turned to ones of horror, despite their previous one, in which two pudgy little fists held up one thumb each. She closed her eyes and bit her lip. After five times of being hit with the whip, feeling the blood trail down the back of her biovolt uniform, she looked up at them and smiled, trying to reassure them. she closed her eyes when the whip's crack once again meant her body had been hit.

By the half way mark, she felt numb and the sensation of unconsciousness tugging at her. At thirty one, she opened her eyes to see them crying, and she felt the coolness of salty tears on her face as well. She hadn't even realized it. The final lashing came fairly quick and lingered for a second to long, causing her to bite her tongue to keep from crying out. Any more lashings could probably kill her if the ones she had on her wouldn't already.

"There, now you'll think twice before you dare mouth off. Rudolf, you may let her go." The guard and stooge dropped the girl without so much as to realized that she had just landed on the cobblestone ground with a dull thud, and a slight splash, as the blood that trailed from her pooled at the man's feet. And while you're at it, send in the doctors. She'll be needing a few transfusions, if I'm correct."

Tala and Bryan waited for the two men to leave, which they did within a few minutes. They both hugged each other, clinging together for dear life, out of fear and out of sorrow. They gathered up their courage and approached the unconscous girl, dragging her out of her blood and over to a less dirtied up area. "Muhwissa?"

Her eyes opened, though they were hazy and slightly out of focus. "Hey guys," she said, in a voice not so much above a whisper. "You okay?"

"Fine," Bryan said, though clenched teeth. Tears were gathering up in their eyes, but he blinked them away, unlike Tala. "You need-

Before he could continue, Boris emerged from the shadows again, to see the two children hovering over the girl. "Now, now, have you not learned anything? Compassion is for the weak. Emotions will get you nowhere, so harden up." He placed a hand to his chin as Marissa propped herself up. "I think I have an idea. Bryan, you first. Kick her."

"What?"

"Do you want to end up the same way? I said to kick her. In the side. As hard as you can or else you will do it a hundred times over."

Bryan looked down at her, but she didn't seem afraid. She nodded, her eyes beginning to clear up a bit. Her fist was clenched in a thumbs-up position, and he drew back and wailed her in the side. She made a loud 'oof,' as his foot knocked the air out of her, and Boris cackled. The satanic man knew that Bryan had been with her the longest, since she was three and he was two, so he had grown up to know her as family. This hurt him the most.

"Tala, take the other side. Bryan has done a fine job on her right."

Tala's blue eyes magnified more emotion, but a glare from Marissa told him to mask it. He hardened up, his eyes still bright, but not as meaningful. He drew back, and kicked her so hard that she skidded into Bryan's foot. The sight made him want to cry, want to scream. The guard went to her, a different one this time, and picked her up, throwing her carelessly over her shoulder. She moaned and looked up at them, whispering in quiet Russian, "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

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Three years had passed. The consequences for losing had become much more horrific, and beatings like the ones mentioned previously were considered light. Tala looked over at the girl, who had, like she had said, been fine. She was eight to his seven years of life, and her brown hair was held up in a ponytail. She looked at him, polishing her beyblade in the process.

"So," Bryan said, looking at her, "Do you know what we're wanted for?"

"I don't," she said. She looked around at the office. "This is Voltaire's office though."

Tala was sitting on one side of her, Bryan on the other. "No, really? We've been in here hundreds of times before," Tala growled.It was the truth, as all warrants of updates, notices of punishments, and other things had been declared in this room.

"We haven't done anything, have we?"

"Our team has done nothing but win," Bryan said curtly.

Marissa began whistling.

"Squirt, what did you do?" Both boys asked, with accusing looks in her direction.

She giggled. "Nothing, I'm just screwing around."

"Sure, Cap'n, sure."

She shrugged. The Abbey's structure had allowed for the creation of teams. There were typically five members and one captain, so six per team. Marissa was the captain, as she was the oldest, and despite her 'inferior' gender, she did wonders with a beyblade. Whenever people would come around, she'd be hidden, since she was not techinically supposed to be in an 'Abbey,' for 'Monks.' It was more like a 'Hell' for 'abused children.'

Their team, Demolition, was stronger than strong, despite it only having three members total. She had personally wondered why no one else would join their team, but figured it was because of her gender that she would be pushed twice as hard.

"Well what did you think I did? There's nothing around here I haven't done, so let's just move on, okay?"

Both boys nodded. The door creaked just a little as it opened, revealing two elder men. Three sets of eyes narrowed. Boris and Voltaire; Voltaire and Boris, either way, it was the two people they wished would just die already.

"Hello gentlemen," Voltaire said calmly, before looking between them. "And Miss Marissa," He said, with a wave of his hand, "You're looking lovely."

She gave him a look that anyone would note to be dull, bored. "Hello, Sirs," she said in response to the two of them, though she wished she could tell them to eat shit, jump of a cliff, or both. As long as there were pointy rocks at the bottom of said cliff.

"We have been giving your present situation some thought, and we've decided to outfit you with some new players."

"Of course, Marissa, you will be required to take full responsibility for them. And you will have to be very firm. Can you handle that?"

She laughed for a moment. "Can the rest of this place handle that?" She looked at Bryan and Tala. "These two misfits practically run the place, and I take full responsibility for them, despite how horrible they are." She was elbowed twice and responded by swatting two Russians upside their heads. "Bring them in," she said, leaning back into the leather couch.

Voltaire sent Boris away with another wave of his hand, and turned exclusively to Marissa. "I am assigning you my grandson. He is talented, but he lacks the submission and respect that both Tala and Bryan give to you. I would like him to be trained as you train these two." Voltaire paused. "He's the spitting image of his father and needs to be broken of his ways."

She nodded seriously. "So I shall be beating him up until he listens because he's defiant?"

There was a nod. "I have made his father abandon him, and I expect you all to treat him like the scum of the earth he is. I wish my grandson to be strong. Emotions cannot get in his way."

She nodded again. "And the others?"

"One is a trigger-happy child, two years your junior. He is very quick to fly off the handle, but can be a very strong starter. The other is a large boy, a golden retriever type. Very loyal and devoted to those he serves. And very willing to stand for a powerful individual who takes charge. He will worship the ground you walk upon if given the chance."

"Alright." She looked at the boys on either side of her. "They will be welcomed... accordingly," she said, with a smirk to both of them. It was returned. Despite their status as team mates, the trio could be both vicious in the ring, and mischevious outside of it. They were known for trouble, though they stuck together and were only open to their team mates, despite everyone else's twenty-four-seven-three-sixty-five mask. "You two, I want Tala on the trigger-happy twerp, and Bryan on the big one." She looked at Voltaire and noted his approval. "I will trash your grandson myself. Show him the ropes and what-not."

A nod was given from the superior man, who smiled evilly. "I like your idea, Miss Tatibana."

"No one joins my team without a proper welcome and a good test. Especially since no one has joined since the beginning anyway." A malicious smirk spread across her face. Tala nudged her. "What?"

"Don't look now, we have new recruits."

She smirked as a tall and bulky blonde walked in, his eyes hard and dark but deeper, they revealed some form of attachment, or need therefore. A nod was extended his direction by Bryan. Behind him was a short, violet haired individual, a very short one at that. The rifle in his hands was about the same size as his small body. Tala gave him a once over, raised an eyebrow elegantly and looked to Marissa, who gave both of them the same smirk that put them in their place. She noted that they were nervous. Very nervous.

Then the final recruit came in. A carefree look graced his face. She looked to Bryan and Tala, raising her eyebrows. The resemblance between the boy and his grandfather was not very noticible. However, she could tell by his stance that he trusted no one. His two tone slate and navy hair was pulled back, so that the front, the slate spiked out around his face, and the navy was pulled back into a pony tail with a short end.

She stood up as he faced her, rather than his grandfather. "You've got to be kidding," he said, looking at the girl.

"Show some respect, boy," Bryan said angrily.

A hand was extended before the lavender haired boy as he stood up. "Hold up now," Marissa said, and Bryan remained still. She extended her hand to him and he didn't shake it. She nodded. "Oh, so you're stubborn, are you?"

She looked to Voltaire, who began to speak. "This is Kai, my disobedient grandson, Ian," The violet haired boy with the large nose and rifle's eyes narrowed, "And this is Spencer," Voltaire finished, extending a hand his direction.

Marissa looked at all of them, giving them each a once over. "Well now, I suppose proper introductions are in order for us as well. This welp on my left is Tala, and on my right is Bryan. I'd watch how I'd cross them if I were you. But you'll see that in a moment when you get tested." She looked at Voltaire and Boris once more, then back at the three boys standing across from her. "I'm Marissa," she said, with a quick glace over all of them. "And I'm your captain."

Kai snorted. "This is your brilliant idea, Grandfather? A girl training me?"

"I'll tell you what," Marissa said, not bothering to let anyone else get a word in, "We'll battle in about two minutes, and if you win, you can be captain. Work for you?"

Tala and Bryan looked at each other, then back at her in shock. It wasn't that they didn't have faith in her, but this was Voltaire's flesh and blood, as in, the evilest guy they knew's grandson. They didn't know his strength, not one bit.

The boy pulled out a blue beyblade from his pocket "You're on."

She nodded. "Just what I hoped to hear." She turned around to walk out, Bryan and Tala getting up to follow, before she turned to the rest of them. "You two, Ian, Spencer, come on. You're up when he's done. As for Bryan and Tala, don't scare them too much until you're in the arena with them."

Marissa, with Tala and Bryan on either side of her, led the three newbies to the main arena setting of the Abbey, complete with cobblestone floor and beydish. "Alright, Kai, is it? You're on, get your ass to the dish."

Bryan and Tala both nudged her as she passed, making it look like she had run straight into them. She pulled out a launcher and rip cord, using her mouth to hold the rip cord until the beyblade she had pulled out from her other pocket was locked firmly into place. She then slid in the rip cord and held the launcher out.

"Tala," she commanded, "Start the count."

Tala nodded and stepped up. "Alright, Three... Two... One... Let it rip!"

"Go Dranzer!"

"Let's get it on," she said, with a smirk as the boy began a fiery assault on her own blue beyblade. She dodged multiple attacks, using a series of fluid attacks and quick thinking.

His darker blue beyblade surged toward hers and hit its mark, however, her beyblade shoved his back using the force of his own attack. "Fire arrow!"

"Think defensive-" She began.

"I don't need your help!"

She nodded her head, and followed his attacks. He launched multiple ones, some of which she put up no defense. She looked back to her team mates and to the two other newbies, who seemed slightly intimidated. While Kai was getting winded, she was absorbing his style, his methods, and his emotions, which she could clearly read through his beyblade.

"What're you thinking, Bryan?" She asked.

The lavender haired boy laughed. "What do you want me to say? He needs work."

"Angry?" Marissa asked. Kai looked up at her, the anger and rage apparent. She immediately knew it's source. It had been what Voltaire had said about his father's abandonment. That type of thing was common for a source of anger, as demonstrated by countless others.

Kai nodded. His eyes hardened, and just before they iced over, she saw his true self. A broken little kid, a kid dying to be loved. Something they all wanted. "Dranzer, finish this!"

The flames that encased her caused both Bryan and Tala to grow extremely defensive and cry out for her. She threw out a hand and the flames ceased, his bit beast, a mighty phoenix still in the air. "Interesting," she said aloud. "Dranzer huh?" He nodded, his eyes wide with shock. "I'll let you see mine then."

She held up her arm and a glowing gold color warmed up her bit. "Vyora!" Without a second's notice, a creature with bright blue eyes that slid the length of the room appeared, a sabretooth-looking creature with a golden coat. "Pulse attack!"

A series of shock waves was emitted from the creature's body as she surged toward Dranzer. The blue beyblade opposing the sabretooth began to crack upon repeated hits, and the phoenix squealed out of rage. She was becoming trapped.

A slight look of remorse crossed her features. You shouldn't cage a phoenix, she thought sadly. Her eight year old mind pushed that away. "Come on," she said gently, "Don't just give up."

"Dranzer!"

"Call that bird's name all day, it won't do you much good," Bryan said. "Rissa's already got your number."

"Vy, finish this up! Tidal pull!"

Without a second's hesitation, the cracking beyblade of the younger Hiwatari ended up in Marissa's hand, the Phoenix returning down to it's bit. Kai stared at her.

"Give it back."

She looked at him, raised an eyebrow and looked unimpressed. "Twenty push ups. Now."

"What?"

"I'm not playing you, Hiwatari. Get your as on your knees and start going." She nodded to Bryan. "While Tala fights, go get my kit. I don't know what the hell this beyblade is made out of, but it's about to dissolve." She looked to Tala."Tala, Ian, get going. I want to hear beyblades crashing against each other in less than ten seconds."

Kai looked at her. There was no way she was going to boss him around. Who the hell did she think she was?"

"If you're not going to do this, then you can't have Dranzer back."

His eyes widened.

"I'm not kidding you. Get going."

Grudgingly, he got down on his knees, then his hands, and began the motion. It was half hearted, and without mercy, she kicked him in the side, knocking him over. He looked up at her again.

"I said push ups. I might be a girl, but I'll be damned if I take anything like this from you."

"Aren't you a little young to talk like that?"

"No, I'm older than you, kid. Now get going."

Bryan walked back in, and while Kai finished his set of push ups, which he did slowly, Tala beat Ian to a pulp. Meanwhile, someone else was bery busy. Kai stood up when he was finished and sauntered over to the bench, next to the girl who had just beaten him senseless.

"Where's my blade?"

Bryan gave her a strange look. She threw some parts back into the kit and handed Kai his blade. Well, it was his bit, anyway. The blade was not his. It was brand new.

"Welcome to hell, population, well, too many. If you want to beat anyone, I suggest you use this."

He snarled and took it from her. Thus was the beginning. And they had a lot to learn.

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"What the hell was that?"

Kai looked up at Boris fearfully. Things were not good. Not at all. Tala and Bryan looked at their two newbies, aside from the one in front of them. "God help us all," Spencer said quietly.

"What were you thinking?"

Marissa stood up as he collected his beyblade off the floor. "I've got this," she said quietly, pushing Kai toward Bryan and Tala. "Get the hell out of here," she said quietly.

"Not so fast."

The group behind her turned to Boris. "I don't believe Kai has ever been punished properly. Come back here, weakling."

Marissa blocked his way again. "Boris, we both know that it's my fault for not training him effectively. You'd never beat him anyway. He's his Grandfather's heir, we can't have him all beaten up, can we?"

Boris licked his lips. She felt a sickening sensation in her stomach, attributed to the man, who would probably rape her if given the chance. "You, my dear, have a point." He pulled at the whip on his belt and whistled. It was the common sign for a guard to come. "Though, I have permission to beat the young Hiwitari up as much as necessary."

"Tala, Bryan, I'm dead serious. Get them out of here before someone makes them stay."

"You're going to let them run? Well now, I guess we'll have to go over multiplication again. What is ten times five?"

She gave Kai a cool glance as he looked over his shoulder. Bryan nudged him forward so he couldn't see her anymore, before the lavender haired boy turned around himself to look at her. She nodded to him, knowing full well that he'd be back. He always came back.

Kai looked at Bryan. Bryan looked back at him. "Whaddya want, Runt?"

"What's going to happen to her?"

The crack of a whip made Bryan clench his fists and snarl. "She was only going to have ten, until she decided to protect you and tell us to leave. Now she's got fifty."

"That's what she said."

"She's going to need some help, even if she doesn't loose blood like she used to."

Tala nodded, leading the way to their bedrooms. It held the entire team and their meager amount of things. Since none of them had family, they received nothing other than what they could scrape together themselves. Kai looked at Tala, who went to the sink in the bathroom joined to their room, washed his hands, then moved out of the way so Bryan could do the same. Ian and Spencer watched.

"What's going to be so bad?"

Bryan felt angry, but Tala butted in as to stop the boy from starting a fight. "How about she let you get fifty lashes? But no, none of us are allowed to take punishments."

"So she's trying to be the hero?"

Ian looked up at Kai, resting his rifle next to him on the bed. "Have you ever been hit by a whip?"

Kai said nothing.

"I didn't think so."

A scream resounded from down the hall. People began to rush by their room. Bryan and Tala immediately looked at each other, knowing that this was no ordinary punishment. "Since when does she scream?" Voices began to ask, as the group inside their room began to make their way to the door. Bryan grabbed Kai and began to pull him alongside himself.

"You want to see what happens when you screw up?" He asked viciously into Kai's ear. Kai felt sick, but nodded.

Tala came up along his other side. "Can't say we didn't warn you."

Without a second's hesitation, Kai, Tala, and Bryan had broken through the crowd and were standing in front of it. Bryan heard Kai gag and admitted personally that he felt sick. Not aloud however. He'd be strong. "Maybe next time," Boris said, a coat of sweat covering him as he waved the whip around proudly, "You'll stay and watch and I won't have to do twenty of these."

"No," Bryan whispered.

Kai looked at him.

"What?"

"That whip," Tala said quietly. "It has a spike on it."

Boris snickered. "It's surprising she's still conscious, but it'll go. This is the last one. She's been counting, I'm sure she knows, even if nothing we say is registering in her head."

"I can hear you," she said darkly, her voice heavy and pained. "Just finish it."

A maniacal laugh echoed from behind her. "As you wish."

Kai watched, his mind and body frozen with horror, as the whip snapped in mid air. The guard stepped away from the girl, who stood up rigidly on her own. That was a shock in itself. No one that he had ever known would've withstood that and still be standing. Much less alive. The whip suddenly recoiled at it's owner's request and snap of the wrist, colliding with her back, staying there as the spike dug into her skin. It was a big spike and she quickly turned toward them all, her face void of tears, but her lips bleeding from being bit.

The crowd, and Boris cleared out almost instantaneously, leaving the group alone with their bleeding captain. She had made her way to the nearest pillar that supported the rock structure and was holding herself up with it.

Kai stared at her for a moment, before speaking. "W-why'd you do that?"

She smiled, her teeth radiant pearls. "Because," she said, taking a shaky, shallow breath, "I'm your captain. That's what a real captain does. Protects their team."

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Marissa's eyes were as wide as saucers. "Wh-what are you doing? Bryan! I never taught you that!"

"I learned it while you were at that competition." He paused. "Stroblitz!"

She felt a severe pain in her right arm. "Vyora, restrain him-"

"Oh, I don't think so."

"Kai?"

"Black Dranzer-"

"How could you?" She felt a trace of fear but pushed it down. "What are you thinking? You have to fight it! Don't let them control you!"

Tala smirked from her left. "No one's controlling us. They just told us to harness our true talents. You've been holding us back. Why haven't you told us that we could be better?"

She blinked, her eyes hardening. "There's a hell of a lot of difference between having power and being insane. And I think the latter of the two describes it. What the hell did they do to you while I was gone?"

"They just opened us to the truth. Wyborg! Attack!"

"Don't do this," she whispered. Viora's bit glowed defensively. "Take them down!"

"The only thing going down," Spencer threatened, "is you."

"Black Dranzer, fire attack!"

"Stroblitz!"

"Novae Rogue!"

She closed her eyes and felt tears pulsing down her cheeks. "I won't," she said defiantly. "I won't fight you."

She recalled her beyblade and took off. "That's what your weakeness is. You don't understand that you can't count on anyone. You're just as pathetic as the newbies."

"I protected you from the darkness," she retorted.

"This place is darkness."

"Then I choose the light."

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**Author's Notes: **How's that as a prologue? Sets us up for just about anything, heh? Well, you'll see. It's going to be rather interesting.

So please review, and I'll get on the Next Chapter!

Distant Storm, signing off!


	2. Today As We Know It

**Author's Notes: **Well, I've got this story pretty much mapped out. Each chapter is in four parts, and I plan on incorporating some point of view.

**_HOWEVER:_** I have absolutely no idea pairings wise. I could make it Kai/Hil, Ty/Hil, Kai/Oc, Bryan/Oc, Tala/Hil, ANYTHING YOU WANT, JUST REVIEW. I SHALL DO WHAT YOU WANT THIS TIME AROUND. UNLESS YOU DON'T TELL ME, AND THEN I WILL END UP DOING WHAT I WANT WITHOUT ANY CARES AS TO IF YOU LIKE THE PAIRING CHOICES. (pokes fingers together) I would like to make it Kaioc though... ah well, I'll go for your decisions.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot, and my Oc.

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Today As We Know It

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I'm not exactly sure where everything fits into place. Where I fit into place. Because when I left that Abbey, things went spiraling out of control. I mean, Kai lost control of Black Dranzer, had his memories erased, and ended up on a championship team as a captain. Then he went on a side-switching frenzy. God, I wanted to strangle him.

Then there was the rest of the group, who stayed together. Which was good, but up until the time Kai found them, the bastards were evil darkness lovers. I'm not sure if that's an oxymoron or not, but I know it wasn't good. They aren't that way now, thankfully. I felt so bad when I watched Tala get the crap beaten out of him by Garland.

I'll never tell anyone this, so long as I live, but I went to that hospital. I saw Dranzer's beyblade sitting there next to him, I saw my friend's fragile state. I was scared to death, but there was nothing I could do. The doctors were kicking me out as fast as I had shown up, and I knew Mr. Dickenson wasn't going to be able to do much now. So I did the first thing I could. I snuck into B.E.G.A. headquarters and totaled everyone I could find.

Then Tyson's brother Hiro showed up. I guess I learned where Tyson got it from, but he wasn't all that tough. I beat the crap out of him and his Drigger-look-alike and took off, destroying the rest of the training center the way it had been revealed that Kai had totaled the abbey. It was fun, I'll tell you that much. And I was on the right side.

But before B.E.G.A., I had a part in the B.B.A. I was the US champ the year before Max, and at that point in time, Mr. Dickenson had asked me to work for some of the tournaments the years after. So I saw all the fights. And I'll be damned that no one recognized me. But in the B.B.A. jacket, I guess it's kind of hard.

Speaking of which, I guess that they never thought I'd grow up into a 'girl.' I was always 'one of the guys,' not the 'girl.' Of course, when we were at the abbey that would be inferiority... But now, I think that most of the female bladers kick major ass.

There's one other thing I learned. I have a family. Holy crap, no one in the abbey has a family. Well, I've done my research, and apparently I have one. My mom was sixteen when I was born, my dad was eighteen. From what my guess is, they either didn't want me, or they couldn't keep me. Probably a combination of both. I have a sister. With my last name, so we've got to be related. Though in today's society, you can't be sure. Other than that, I don't really pay attention. I've seen a picture of her, and you'd never guess who she is. Or maybe you would, I don't know.

I guess my life has been a lot of me learning that I know absolutely nothing. All my old friends and I are two worlds apart, it wouldn't matter if we were sitting next to each other. They wouldn't know me. I guess that's better for them, though. Ah well, I'm getting it a little by little.

When I looked at the clock, it said three thirty. Time for my ass to get to the mall. I've got some clothes to buy. Go me.

xxxxxxxxxx

"Alright, get your asses out of bed! Hop to!" Hilary began stomping across the room, her ruby eyes spirited and bright. "We have to go see Mr. Dickenson in less than an hour."

Ray laughed from across the room. "Some things never change."

It had been almost a year since B.E.G.A. had been taken down. Team BBA was going strong, and instead of it's typical separation issues, it was one unified entity. One team, one goal. When he had said that, Max began laughing. No one else got it, but the blonde had thought it was hysterical.

"Mommy, five more minutes."

"Wow," Max began, "some things ne-"

"Say that once more and I swear that you won't like the result."

Max looked sheepishly at Kai, nodded, and retreated over to Ray. Hilary had exited the large bedroom and came back in a moment later, carrying two buckets of water. Kai gave her a look, and she handed him one. "Care to count us down?"

A playful smirk crossed his face. The Kai they had always known and well, tolerated, hadn't changed much, but he had indeed grown a bit more sarcastic, and just a bit more open. And strong, to boot. He nodded, and instead of counting, Kai and Hilary immediately dumped their buckets of water on Tyson and Daichi, respectively.

"Hey!" They both yelled, jumping up. "That was cold!"

Kai snorted. "That was the point."

"God, he's a dolt. Pleasure working with you, Kai," she said, nudging his shoulder as he passed by. "Come on, you two, let's go! We're going to find out about the tournament!"

The duo pumped their fists in the air, and danced around before heading to the door. "What are we waiting for?" They asked, about to slide open the shoji. Hilary had somehow gotten in their way, holding the door shut herself. "Well?"

"How about you two put some clothes on?" She asked sarcastically. "No one wants to see you two in your boxers." The group of boys behind the two boxer-clad bladers laughed as they blushed. Tyson and Daichi took off for their bedroom again, screaming about clothes.

"This is going to be disasterous already," Hiro said, shaking his head. "And as the captain, I can tell."

Kai shrugged from behind the elder of the Granger brothers, his pride not allowing him to agree completely.

By the time they got to the chairman's office, the group was chattering excitedly about the possibilities that awaited them. Tyson knocked in a pattern that was distinguished as only his own. The founder of the B.B.A. welcomed them happily, as he hadn't seen them in a few months.

"So, you've gotta tell us," Tyson started.

Daichi quickly intervened, his attitude and his impacience getting the better of him. "Now, now, now! Come on, old man!"

Hilary slapped her team's youngest member. "Dai! Watch your mouth!"

Mr. Dickenson laughed warmly. "Now, now, Hilary, let him go from that headlock. He's just an excited tyke. I have many things to tell you about for this year's competition."

"Like...?" Kai was slightly annoyed that the man had specifically stated that he was to come today. He wasn't planning on being stuck in that room forever.

Mr. Dickenson gave him a wry smile, before looking up a bit higher, toward Hiro. "Now, before I explain all this, you have to keep an open mind about it." He recieved an array of nods. "Alright. I have found out that other beyblading associations around the worlds, the beginner ones, the previously non-competitive ones, basically, every blading club wishing to participate will be providing a team of whomever they decide is worthy to compete. This means-"

"We aren't just going up alone in this, are we?" Kenny typed away on Dizzi, trying to come up with a list of the world's best beyblading clubs.

The chairman nodded. "No, you are going to be put in a team with all of your home teams, and perhaps a few more teams, depending on who registers on registration day. Basically, anyone who has come in contact with who I put on the team, and has permission, may compete. However, I have decided to alter a few things..."

The group looked at Mr. Dickenson, who trailed off for a moment. His eyes closed for a moment before he sighed. "Hiro," He began, his voice firm.

"Yes?"

"I am revoking your leadership of the B.B.A. team." Everyone, save the chairman's eyes widened a great deal, while a heavy silence overcame the room. Hiro looked surprised, but he seemed to have a glint that said that he knew.

Hiro looked up at the man, a determined glare set on his features. "And why is this?" His anger and temper seemed to echo through his actions.

From beside Tyson, who seemed just a bit distraught but not surprised, Hilary nodded. "Why are you taking his position away?"

Mr. Dickenson expected this question. "I don't want to say that I don't trust you Hiro, but this is not your team. I would like you to start training a group of new bladers in the States."

Tyson stood up. "Then who's gonna be our captain?"

The chairman's eyes flickered around the room. "I thought you would know instantly," He said, and Tyson's eyes brightened before he smiled. Ray and Max both nodded, high fiving each other before looking at a bewildered Daichi.

Hiro looked at the chairman, then around the room. Kai's eyes had opened from his typical silent, indifferent state. The Russian knew what was being proposed. Hilary looked at Kai.

Kai looked up for a moment, first meeting Hilary's eyes, then Mr. Dickenson's. "Reverting back to old policies?" He asked arrogantly.

"If you accept-"

"Ohh man," Tyson said, getting pumped. "The Bladebreakers are back!" There was a knocking of fists, and a lost look on Daichi's face.

Hilary looked at Kai, earning a half-smile, as she liked to call it. It was too happy to be a smirk, but not enough to be called a smile.

"Well?" The group asked, all eyes on the Russian and former captain of their team.

Kai reclined in his chair, crossed his arms, closed his eyes and opened them again for a moment before he spoke in a pushy, commanding tone they hadn't heard in a long time. It was welcomed and happily accepted. "I don't know why you even bother asking."

"Oh yeah, we are so back!"

Ray gave Dickenson a curious look, disregarding Max's previous statement. The White Tiger spoke. "But I thought you said we were entered as a league-"

Kai's eyes opened and their steely grey glimmered with just a tint of a warm amethyst color. "Wait-"

Mr. Dickenson didn't redirect their realization. "When I implied that I wanted Kai to be the captain, I did mean of the league. He will be the captain for the B.B.A."

xxxxxxxxxx

Hilary was excited. She had accomplished a great deal in a short period of time, not to mention the fact that she had received a deal of good news as well. Kai being the team captain of the B.B.A. was just about the best thing that could happen. She personally believed he was the best blader, possibly short of Tyson. However, her admiration of Tyson was another subject, a story to be saved for another time involving a late night movie, one couch, a blanket, and the blunette. But that was only once-

The mall was packed on this day, however, she wasn't in too much of a rush. She walked into one of the more popular department stores, going straight to the juniors section to try and find some new clothes. It wasn't like she needed them, but it was always nice to have what she wanted.

Hilary reached toward a clothes rack, going for a deep green halter top that would go perfectly with her jeans, only to find someone else's hand attached to it from the other side. "Oh, sorry," The brunette said, sailing around the display of identical tops, none of which, she noted sourly, were in her size.

The girl whose hand was attached to the article of clothing looked up, and ruby met a sparkling blue color. The girl thrust out the shirt. "Here, take it. I've got plenty of almost identical things at home."

"You sure?" From a quick once over, she guessed that the girl was older than she was. It also made her feel a bit wierd. She gave the girl a confused look.

The blue-eyed brunette nodded. "Yeah, it's totally fine." She seemed to pause for a moment before speaking again. "You seem familiar. Do I know you?"

Hilary smirked. "I'm the tech and manager for the B.B.A.'s G-Revolutions. Well, Bladebreakers, but you get the idea." She extended a hand. "Hilary Tatibana's my name."

The girl across from her's mouth dropped. "Do you have an older sister?"

Hilary's mind was sent reeling into an abyss of childhood memories, one in particular when she asked about having a brother or sister. She was told that she had a sister, but she wasn't really a part of their family. "Honestly, I've never met her, but I'm told that I do."

"We need to talk then."

Hilary followed the girl, her green halter forgotten on the rack it was found. The girl, whose name she had learned was Marissa, was suddenly in a strange mood. She led Hilary to the food court, where they sat down, before Hilary noted the slight uncertainty. After sitting for Marissa for a moment of complete silence, Hilary began to speak. "What's up? Did you know a girl who says she's my sister?"

Their eyes met again, and Hilary gave her a quick once over. She looked...

She looked just like herself. With blue eyes. And just a little bit of longer hair, but not much. Her bangs were overgrown and parted to either side. "My name," Marissa said quietly, "is Marissa. Marissa Tatibana."

Hilary's mouth dropped. "Are you saying that you're my sister?"

"No." Hilary gave her a strange look. "I have no idea if you are or not. I have no idea of my family, other than my parents are alive and that I have a sister. In the place I was raised... I stole some files on my family, but it didn't have names. Only family roles and if they applied or not. And I... I've done my research-"

"How would you not know if you had family?"

Marissa ran a hand through her hair, causing it to repart and have just a little more volume. "Where I was raised, they didn't want you to know."

"If my parents had a child, I think they'd want to keep it."

"How old are your parents?"

"I- they're thirty-four."

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"I'm eighteen. Your parents would've been sixteen." Marissa leaned back. "I'm not trying to interfere with your family, I just want to know. And as you've probably guessed, I'm just a touch impulsive."

Hilary laughed. "I had no idea. My idea of a shopping trip does involve fighting over a shirt, not getting asked if I have a sister." The brunette looked at her. "I'll asked my Mom, here, you know what, there's nothing like using a cell phone." She picked up her cell phone and dialed.

_"Hello?"_

"Hey Mom, it's me. I have a question."

_"Yeah?"_

"What was the deal with my big sister?"

Her mother faultered for a moment. Marissa had gotten up, leaving her purse at the table, to go buy something along the line of food or... something. _"Why do you want to know? I'd rather tell you this if you were here with me."_

Hilary rolled her eyes. "This is kind of important. I can't explain right now, I just need to know."

_"Hilary, honey, that was a long time ago. Your sister- ah, she'd be about eighteen right now."_ Hilary's eyes widened. _"Your father and I were so young, so foolish. We couldn't take care of her. She was premature, we didn't even know if she was going to live... I guess we just knew that we had to give her up to someone who could take care of her."_

"What was her name?"

_"We named her Marissa after my mother, she had her grandmother's bright blue eyes- and gave her your father's last name, so it would be the same as yours-"_

_­_The phone nearly slid out of her hands, but she composed herself, as Marissa came back to the table. She finished up the conversation saying something about discussing why later before looking at the blue eyed brunette.

"My Mom just described you in a nutshell. You were named after your Grandma. Our Grandma."

xxxxxxxxxx

"Jeez," Tyson said, blowing a bout of air up at his messy, overhanging blue hair, "How many people are on this team?"

Kenny shrugged. "I'm not quite sure. They're all supposed to be here to meet us this afternoon, and we've already got like seven people here, not including us."

Scattered around the room were bags belonging mostly to the Russian team, the Blitzkrieg Boys, whose flight came in early that morning. They were most likely sleeping in the basement, as they enjoyed their quiet and a location void of disturbances. Kai would be joining them, from the rest of the group's guess. Besides the bags, a great deal of beyblade parts were laying out, in a variety of color, sizes, and shapes. There would be major beyblade reconstruction later, upon every blader's analysis. Everyone except the Bladebreakers and Daichi, of course, as they had theirs completed the day before, with the exception of Kai, who needed no person to tell him how to construct his beyblade.

Aside from the Blitzkrieg Boys, Mariah and Lee of the White Tiger X were flying, their flight arriving around noon. Max was leaving from his Dad's to pick up both Michael, and Emily, the latter of the two to serve as a tech to the group along Kenny and Hilary. Other than that, there was a possibility that Robert, Enrique or Johnny would appear. "TYSON!"

The blunette rolled his eyes before yelling back, "What, Daichi?"

"You ate my LAST ice cream sandwich!"

The next sound to be heard was that of a squealing beyblade flying through the air, toward Tyson, and Daichi, both of whom were in the doorway. Both boys hit the ground before Hilary reached out and grabbed the blade, surprising everyone with her reflexes. Kenny was staring at the back of Hilary's hand, which had shielded him from the blader's assault, whoever he was.

Hilary examined the blade, holding it up to show Ray and Max, who laughed. "Wolborg, eh?" Max said, with a smirk. "You two had better watch out."

A jet-lagged, exhausted Tala appeared in the doorway. "Who_ever_'s voice-" He looked around at them angrily, reinforcing his point, "Rises above a whisper before I wake up, will _not _wake up tomorrow morning."

With that, he sauntered to the door on the far side of the kitchen that led to the basement, shutting it softly behind him. Within a moment, he re-opened the door, causing an array of jumping and frightful movement.

"Shit," Ray whispered. "Nobody say anything."

Tala sent him a harsh glare, growling all the while. "Be grateful that I'm tired, otherwise I'd really fuck you up." He looked to Hilary and Kenny. "That was my analysis."

"Okay," Hilary said, nodding prettily and giving him a smile. "Go get some sleep."

Tala did a drowzee double take and shut the door, this time, heading down the stairs.

Tyson and Daichi were still frozen, on the floor, their hands over their heads. Kenny backed toward the living room, a location where the sleeping Russians beneath them wouldn't be able to hear them speak. Hilary nudged them both with her foot before walking past them and entering the living room, on Kenny's heels. Kai smirked at Hilary.

"He must be tired," The Russian said indifferently, "Because usually, he can't stand girls who can hold their own against him."

Hilary smirked. "I could beat the shit out of him," She said, earning a smile from Ray and Max, who didn't doubt it. Tyson and Daichi nodded their heads, having been the targets of such beatings for their behavior.

"Oh, we know."

Hilary gave Tyson a challenging look and he immediately backed down. Kai laughed at him, earning a glare from Tyson, and looks of horror from everyone, save Hilary. "Tala doesn't stand a chance against me either. Maybe if you weren't such babies..."

"WE'RE NOT BABIES!"

Hilary and Kai saved their laughter for when Tala came bounding mercilessly up the stairs, lugging something known only as Ian's trusty rifle.

The rest of the group ran for dear life, screaming bloody murder at the same time. Hilary watched as Tala passed them a third time, stopping only briefly to smirk victoriously, however sleepily, at Kai.

"I wonder how long it will take them to realize that this thing isn't loaded..."

xxxxxxxxxx

**Author's Notes:** a few reminders:

1. Let me know what pairings would be interesting in this story... don't forget about all of the other bladers, like Johnny, Enrique, or if you want to see TRIANGES! Triangles are a lot of fun! (Just no yaoi, since I don't write it.)

2. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! Act like you love me or... something... I don't know. Just DO it.

3. I tried to encorporate some humor, let me know if that was good or not. It seems like a hell of a transition since last chapter... erm... the prologue was so serious, but it'll pick up.

4. FINALLY... do not curse me for my inability to write... I know this isn't very good.

Distant Storm, Signing off!


	3. Thinking Of You

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot, and my Oc.

**Author's Notes:** I know I haven't thanked anyone so far, and I apologize for that, it was really horrible on my part. I am nothing without you guys, and I really appreciate hearing from people, especially since I typically read the fics of my reviewers, at least more often then not. (See, and I didn't think this fic would be popular, yet I have twelve reviews already) YOU ROCK. YES, _YOU_.

**_And,_**(yes, AND) at the end of this chapter, I'm going to try and give you some scenarios on the pairings. I wanna make everyone happy, and I know that you all like KaiHil, but I just wrote two KaiHil fics... and well, I have a sequel in mind that I've told Jess(Moonlight Serenity) about as a separate fic like three weeks ago... but it would be interesting. Anyway, at the end of the chapter... so read on my peeps.

xxxxxxxxxx

Thinking Of You

xxxxxxxxxx

Tala and Bryan got up just in time to note that they were feeling just a little bit behind. They knew it was well into the night, and that any attempt of Kai's to wake them up had failed severely. To his right, the captain slept, his breathing shallow, as it was most nights, as far as their recollections were concerned.

"Should we wake him up?" Ian asked quietly.

There was silence for a moment, before Kai's eyes opened. He sat up and kicked the covers off from on top of him, revealing a built and chiseled chest, complete with washboard abs. He obviously lacked a shirt, however his typical, nearly black pants were still covering the lower half of his figure. "Sleep much?" The captain asked, a smirk coveting his features. Kai was well aware that he was probably the worst insomniac of them.

Bryan smirked. "How the hell do you put up with them?" He asked, obviously angered. "I wasn't even conscious and I couldn't stand them."

Within moments, the group went upstairs. Kai noted how much more peaceful it was without the rest of the group awake. Of course, they would have to go out before training would be the same, as well as void of interruptions.

By the time they got to the park, they were more awake and alert. The Blitzkrieg Boys were ready to go, facing off against their- and the B.B.A.'s- captain, waiting for the countdown.

"Three, two, one-"

"LET IT RIP!"

Five beyblades hit the dish, including the revamped Wolborg that had been placed by Kai- as no one else dared go down into the basement for fear of being eaten alive- on the table beside Tala's bed. It spun in a frenzy, sending a bit of static and sparks into the night air.

"That computer nerd does a good job on beyblades," Spencer noted. Tala grunted in agreement.

Kai resisted the urge to laugh. "The Chief does a good job, but Hilary's the one who put together that beyblade, hate to tell you."

"She's been too nice," Tala said, a little distraught that a girl- dear sweet mother of pearl, A GIRL- had caused such revolutionary changes in his beyblade.

Byan shrugged. "She's a girl. The only girl you've ever been shocked by had sharpened incisors and pink hair. I believe there's a picture of her-"

"Shut up."

Kai smirked at his red-headed friend, knowing all too well of the picture hidden in his pillowcase. He wasn't sure how Ray- or Lee- for that matter, would react, but he did know that Tala's pride prohibited him from saying anything, at least for the moment. "Can I suggest we practice right now?"

"Afraid we're going to touch on a subject you're a little too emotional about?"

Kai glared at Ian. "As a midget, and as someone whose rifle has no bullets, I suggest you get your ass in the game before I take you out."

"We've been training too," Spencer added, "Just not constantly like you."

"Well," Tala said looking around, "If you've been trying for _years_ without prevailing against someone," Kai noted the emphasis on years, "Then I guess that you'd have to say that constant training is the only chance."

Kai withdrew his beyblade. "Now hold up," He said, his voice edgy, for Tala had indeed gotten under his skin, "I don't believe you've even made it to the finals to face Tyson. You should be grateful you're on the same team."

The rest of the gang grunted angrily at their captain.

"Don't blame me, you set yourselves up for that one. Just wait until tomorrow. Tyson won't be able to lift his arms by the day's end. But you will, you're used to it."

"Still not using any original techniques?"

"I use plenty of my own Bryan, and like Tala uses his own all the time?" Tala flushed just a little bit, a barely pink color tinting his cheekbones.

The lilac haired boy nodded. "I'd guess so."

The rest of the boys noticed that no blading- competitive, serious blading- had occurred in the past twenty minutes. "Well this was a bust."

"Not in the mood," Bryan said.

"Well we aren't going to stargaze all night, like Phoenix-boy over there."

"You'd be better off calling him a prince," Spencer said. "He'd probably answer."

Tala rolled his eyes in agreement before sitting down alongside his captain. "Inspirationally, we're running on empty, aren't we?"

"There's no Tyson to beat this time around."

"Every tournament has somebody who gives us a run for our money," Ian said, shaking his rifle threateningly.

Bryan was well aware of Kai's hugely insecure streak that he didn't show to any other team, save their own, since they were the ones who had grown up seeing it. "Alright, you've got our attention. What the hell are you getting at?"

"I was just saying."

"You can't fool us, we aren't idiots, remember?"

Kai shrugged. "It's not like Tyson, Ray, and Hilary don't know that I'm not immortal."

Tala laughed. "You had us fooled."

Kai smirked before looking up. "I'm just wondering what's so big that we all need to be here, to compete. Dickenson won't tell us because he knows that guys like us will go off and try to take people down from the inside."

"You're a pretty good judge of character, Kai," Ian reminded him.

"At least better than you guys, which isn't saying much."

Tala punched his arm. "You know, this would definitely make it a four on one battle. I really would hate for you to get hurt."

The boy's amethyst eyes traveled to Tala's direction. "I know. That's why you're always the one in the hospital, right?"

xxxxxxxxxx

When Ray woke up the next morning, he was greeted by an unusual sight. Not that it was unexpected.

"THIS ENTIRE THING ISN'T ABOUT YOU!"

"I'M STILL BETTER!"

Ray rolled his eyes at Tyson, before noting that Lee looked ready to pounce. Mariah had grabbed his shoulder, trying to keep him away.

"Dude, Tyson, chill."

"YOU'RE GONNA TAKE HIS SIDE?"

"For the moment, yes."

Max grabbed Tyson as well. "It's not worth it."

Once satisfied with Tyson's current restraint, Lee backed down, and Mariah tried to calm him a little.

"We all know Tyson's just a waste of space."

Tyson shot back into his tempermental mode, his fists ready to go at Lee. "What was that?!"

"That wasn't me!" Lee cried back in response.

The sound of a boot on the hardwood floor made them turn their heads to the side to see Tala striding confidently across the room. "If you want to go," Tala said, acting extremely bored, "I suggest you make it far away from here. Or else I'll buy Ian those bullets he needs and let him go at you."

Mariah looked at Tala, their eyes met, and Lee chuckled. "Well now, I believe Tala has just made a good point."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Michael entered the room with Emily, looking just a bit frazzled. "You mean to tell me that you guys are all, like, getting along?"

Mariah shrugged, sending Tala a quick smile that went undetected by her brother, but was surely noted by Ray, who looked a bit confused. Tala had nothing against Ray, so he looked at the raven haired boy and shrugged.

"Well, first off, why not?" Mariah looked at Michael. "We don't have a choice, so why not let what happened rest where it did?"

Michael nodded. "I guess this isn't the time for rivalries, now is it?"

Kai's voice surprised them, coming from outside. "Save your issues for the other teams. Practice starts in five minutes, and I'm pretty sure that you need to go wake up the rest of your team mates."

"Hey!" Tyson's voice rang, "I'm already up."

"I think all of Asia is well aware."

The people in the kitchen laughed before going through to wake up Daichi, Kenny, and possibly a few stray Blitzkrieg Boys who were still catching up with the time change. Kai leaned casually against the dojo for a few moments, knowing that it would take them a good fifteen minutes to get everyone up and ready to go. So, he decided internally to go see if Hilary was coming up the street, as she said she would be coming by nine.

It was already five after, and when he looked down the street, he caught no glimpse of the girl, otherwise, he would have probably elected to meet her half way. When she nearly snuck up from behind him, it both surprised and shocked him, because she had obviously planned that out. Not many could sneak up on him properly. To this day, Tala had a hard time.

He knew she was there and just before her hand his his shoulder, he turned around and grabbed it, surprising her in turn. She laughed.

"Taking the long way?" He asked.

She nodded, noting that his hand held hers just a little longer than usual. "I had some errands to run."

"Blade parts?"

"That and a few other things."

"You're still late."

She shrugged, her spitfire nature beginning to reveal itself. "I know."

"I could penalize you for that," He said back.

Hilary turned around and looked at the nearly destroyed back yard. It was covered in footprints from spikes, bare feet, regular sneakers, her own shoes, and the steel-toed boots of the rest of the Russians. "You could," She said thoughtfully. "But deep down beneath all that ice, you like what I have to say about training them, so you aren't."

He nodded. "No, but I will get Tyson for being late."

"What about the rest of them?"

"It's just your little-"

"He's not," She said angrily. Her firmness surprised him.

"Yeah, yeah," He said, and she knew he was teasing.

"Don't let them catch you being my friend, they might kill you."

He smirked, arrogance and pride collectively accentuating his eyes. "I'd kill them first."

Hilary nodded and took up her usual position on the small deck attached to the back of the dojo. Kai sat next to her and stretched. She giggled. "Tired?"

"Hn."

"Figures. I'd bet they didn't shut up until after midnight."

"I used sleeping pills."

"Good call."

It was at this point, a slightly argumentative group of beybladers made their way into the backyard. Kai reached into his pocket and grabbed his beyblade. This was going to be fun.

xxxxxxxxxx

Hilary rushed down the Bakuten streets, nearly totalling a three year old, a cop- yeah, that was a bad situation, and Miss Kincade, her old teacher.

When Kai had said training would be intense, it was other-worldly intense. She was surprised that those boys were still standing- and girl, Mariah actually took it rather well. She knew Kai was impressed, Mariah might actually be put into the first round battle. She wouldn't be too shocked if that was the case.

Everyone in town must have decided that this day, at this time would be the perfect time for a walk. Hilary darted between people, a little sweat trickling down the side of her face. She was late, and that was really not good. She hoped to whatever powers that be that Marissa didn't leave.

"Jesus, slow down," The brunette said, when Hilary sprinted into a nearly deseted coffee shop. The desired meeting place had a cool atmosphere, along with an airconditioner.

Hilary laughed. "Kai kept us all late for practice."

Their meetings had occurred a few times a week, for a few hours. Hilary had yet to tell anyone and Marissa, who had her own friends- in the United States where she had been living- didn't have anyone to tell.

"He's a good captain, isn't he?"

Hilary nodded. "Very."

Marissa gazed out the window as a waitress came up and took Hilary's order, an iced coffee. "You'd think he'd be all stoic and what not, but he takes charge when you need him to."

"How would you know?"

Marissa gave Hilary a cryptic response. "I would know."

The iced coffee that Marissa had was nearly half empty, but she took another sip. "Hil, there's a lot of me that you don't know."

"Only eighteen years, two of which I wasn't alive for."

Light laughter followed. "Yeah, but I mean, I grew up in Russia, I'd know."

"Russia? Why Russia?"

"Because Mom never paid attention to what happened to me after I was put up for adoption. Ever heard of Boris Balkov?"

"Stupid question."

"Yeah. I know. But he was the guy who helped raise me."

"What?" Hilary's voice was loud, shocked, and a bit surprised. "You were what?"

"I should start at the beginning, eh?"

"Please, Rissa, that's just a little hard to believe. You're too-"

"Nice, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I raised those Blitzkrieg Boys that you've been telling me about. They weren't killers when I knew about them."

Hilary's mouth hung open, and Marissa reached over to close it. "Sorry, that's just really strange. They have no people skills, much less girl-skills."

"I wasn't thought of as a girl. I was just another one of the 'guys.' I was younger, so it wasn't like we were thinking about gender. It was more a survival thing. We were family. Then they kind of forgot, so, here I am."

"Would they, well," Hilary bit her lip, thinking for a moment. "Would they recognize you?"

Marissa sweatdropped. "Honestly, I don't know. I think so. Seeing as I was their captain-"

Coffee of a frigid temperature was nearly spit out by the younger Tatibana. Marissa looked at her, poised, but ready to laugh. She handed her sister a napkin. "You're being serious."

She nodded.

"And you seriously haven't told anyone?"

"Don't see a reason to. It was a long time ago, Hils. They've moved on and so have I."

"But you were so tight, like you said-"

"Don't tell them. It's not worth it. When you're ready to tell our parents, they'll put two and two together. I'm not their captain anymore, Kai is. And if I show up, they'll think I'm going to be trying to take his place."

"So you care about them?"

"I was their captain, any captain has to give a shit about their team, or else they're just a waste of space."

"Did you right a rule book on being a captain?"

"I should." They both laughed. Marissa continued. "I'd make a flipping fortune."

"And as family, I call half of the profits."

Blue eyes met ruby ones. "And what are you going to contribute? This isn't a free ride, sister-"

"But I'm your cute baby sister who you met over a green halter top."

"I went back and bought it, you know."

Hilary huffed. "Hey! I wanted that."

"I'll share, if you're lucky."

"I'll go find a four-leaf clover."

"And I'll laugh when you don't."

"How encouraging."

"Aren't I?"

Hilary took a moment to give her a once over. "You know, I see them in you. You're sarcastic as they are and just a touch arrogant too. If you weren't so nice-"

"Just be grateful I like you. Otherwise, we might have a problem."

"That wasn't totally Tala-ish, no, not at all."

Marissa smirked. "I can do a mean Bryan impression too. Don't get me started."

"It would mean more if you dyed your hair."

"Keep dreaming, sister."

Hilary sobered up. "Don't you miss them?"

"Everyday." The elder of the two lost herself in silence before cheering up and smiling. "But they're okay and I can live with that. I've got plenty of friends. Those Majestics, you know, the European champs? They're pretty sweet. That Johnny kid's quite a character." She winked sweetly. "We're practically in daily contact."

"You like him?"

"I don't know. It's just kind of fun, for now. Nothing serious." She smiled. "He took me to a Sabres game."

"Sabres?"

Marissa sighed. "Oh, yeah, I'm a hockey fan. When Johnny first started hitting on me, I told him that if he wanted to actually get to know me, he had to take me to a sabres game."

"You lived in Buffalo-"

She shook her head. "I was working with some bladers in Europe at the time. He flew us out, the next day- first class- to Buffalo to see the playoff game. It was sold out. I figured he must've sold his soul because we were practically on the ice."

"So you gave him a chance?"

"We aren't together, but we're good friends. I guess time will tell."

Hilary sighed. "With everything?"

"Yeah, everything. We've got a hell of a lot of shit going on, don't we?"

"Tell me about it."

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**Author's Notes:** Wow, I thought that kinda sucked, and I was practically killing myself over the ooc Kai and the whole overdone Marissa thing... but I promised scenarios, so here it goes:

1. _We hook up Hilary and Tyson, Tala and Mariah(which I probably will do anyway), and Kenny and Emily(this will probably be in the end result too). As for Marissa, she isn't with anyone. Then I write a sequel. And in this sequel, it's set in the future, and Tyson and Hilary are ENGAGED. Marissa and the gang are all reunited, and they start to set up Marissa and Kai... then we run into a bit of a comedic ordeal, in which we go through the trauma of Kai realizing that being with Marissa... would make him related to Tyson._

2. _OR, we can hook up Hilary and Kai, Tala and Mariah, Kenny and Emily, and then someone helps me out with Marissa, who could go many different ways(like Johnny, Tala, and Bryan(OR ONE OF THE BLADEBREAKERS, WHATEVER YOU WANT)), and there's no sequel._

Alrighty, well, I just thought of those so I figured I should give you that idea. Oh, and even if you choose the second one, I can make that idea with the engagement and such as a separate fic, in which Hilary's sister has absolutely NO connection to Kai whatsoever. Anyway, lemme know what's up in a review. I'd totally appreciate it, and thanks to all of you who have reviewed already! Hopefully this chapter wasn't all that bad.

Distant Storm, signing off.


	4. Two For Two

**Author's Notes:** Howdy all... Well, congratulations, you win. This story, officially, is KaiHil. I never knew how many of you despised TyHil(lol). So, since I have your attention, I hope this chapter isn't totally stereotypical as all other stories are, and I'm thinking of making my Oc a Nun(If you're not religious, then don't worry, we'll just box her up and send her to Siberia or something), or possibly not even pairing her. I'm not quite positive how things are going to work yet, but I'm thinking of keeping her away from a main character pairing, thanks to one of my reviews...

Also, thanks for all your continuous reviews, even if they are to tell me that I should make this KaiHil and if it's not that you'll be chasing me with pointy objects...

OH! And if you have writer's block, may I suggest Jess's cure, involving dancing to Justin Timberlake's "Sexyback" and then "Pour Some Sugar On Me."

(Now that Kai's looking at me strangely to start... not like he hasn't done that before... I'll move along to the disclaimer.)

**Disclaimer: **If I owned beyblade, it wouldn't have ended. 'Nuff said.

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Two For Two

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Personally, I'm just a bit confused. I mean, my sister has all the proof, but how could someone who's supposed to be related to me be a person who was raised by my enemies? She's not evil, but if she was, I would've called Kai at the first second I had a chance. She's great and all, but I've never seen her beyblade, and she's telling me that she's the old captain of the Blitzkrieg Boys(I hope it wasn't called that when she was the captain). So, I guess it's my turn to do some research. And what better way than to ask Kai?

So, I set out on a mission, while trying to avoid both Tyson and Daichi, both of whom I've had difficulties standing lately. I found him in the kitchen, alone. Which, if you ask me, is probably for the best.

"Uhh... Kai?" I asked, trying not to sound too demanding. He has a way of shutting himself off to people, which, to date he hasn't done to me. I'd like to keep it that way. "Can I ask you a question?"

He looked at me, kind of surprised. I'm one of few people, other than the Blitzkrieg boys, who ask him a question, so he's probably not used to it. He nods, and I sit down at the island in the center of the kitchen, next to him.

"Did you have a captain- I mean, before you-"

"Yeah." He looks at me, still kind of caught off guard. "Why?"

"I was just curious."

"She didn't mean anything, if that's what you're getting at."

Wow, does he know how to make a girl blush. I felt the heat and color flushing my cheeks, and he shot me one of those arrogant smirks that he's always got on the back burner. "I- I didn't even know she was a girl." It was a lie, but Marissa said nothing, so I figured I should do the same.

"She was a lot like you, but a bit more annoying. I hate taking orders."

"I hadn't noticed," I replied sarcastically. He gave me a cheeky little smile before becoming passive again.

"Hey," Bryan said, from out in the living room. Kai's head tilted upwards and he nodded to one of his team mates. Well, he's my team mate too, but this knowledge just might kill him. "If you're talking about Marissa, keep it down, would you?"

There almost went my jaw. I composed myself as Tala, Spencer, and Ian came into the room. Kai no longer made eye contact with me, and I felt his more stoic personality rise into existance. "If you're asking about our old captain," Tala said, "You should've asked me or Bryan. Kai hadn't dealt with her that long, and his power and pride complex keeps him from understanding things."

"Well fine," I said, my temper growing, not just because of Tala and Bryan, but because Kai refused to back me up at any point with them around. "Then I'll ask the two of you." Bryan entered the room on cue. "Was Marissa, or whoever she was a good captain?"

They grew silent, before Bryan responded. "She kept us in the light until we got rid of her. She's just another face of the past, and if you want to go diging, stay the hell out of ours." He paused. "She's nothing to us now."

With that, they left me alone with Kai, who sighed and rested his head in his hands. I nudged him, and he looked at me. I smirked one of his own smirks and got up. "I like it better when you make eye contact."

And I hope to any and all powers that be that I left him confused.

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Kenny settled on the extended bench between Hilary and Emily. Next to Hilary was Kai, followed by the Demolition boys and Ray, before it ended. It was the quiet side of the bench, except for when Kai was yelling at someone- like Daichi and Tyson, who couldn't behave themselves at the other end.

"I don't like this," The chief said, frightened. "Not one bit."

Hilary spoke next, taking the words from Kai's mouth. "What is it?"

Emily took the question, dealing a fast and reliable answer. "We've collected data on all these teams, and this one's got a dirty playing style."

"How bad?" Kai asked.

"Your typical bad guys," The chief answered simply. "I just don't... this isn't going to be easy, or fun."

Kai shrugged. "I want Mariah up first."

As Kai would say, or anyone in his shoes, 'the captain is always right.' Within twenty minutes, which was a pretty long time for a beybattle, Mariah came up with a victory, smiling with pride as the crowd applauded her superior skills. A few glances were made to Tala, who was now sitting on his hands. Hilary wished she could just lean over and tell him it was okay to applaud, since she had indeed done an excellent job. He wouldn't be a weakling for recognizing it. Mariah went to sit down beside Hilary, who congratulated her. Kai met her with a nod, and she was surprised that he didn't scold her for some of what she considered stupid moves.

"Who's up next, Captain?" Tyson asked from down toward the end of the bench. There were curious nods and whispers that followed, and Kenny pulled up a window on the screen of his computer.

The chief sighed. "This guys not known for playing fair at all. He's got a hit list of victims about a mile long. I guess he's also got quite a record of things that he's done aside from that. I'd suggest someone pretty up there on their game."

"Capt?" This time, Tala asked.

Silence followed. Kai was currently looking between the boy at the dish and the computer screen, reading the stats as he took in their next opponent. "I'll go."

Kenny gave him a look. "But Kai, you're the captain-"

"That's the point." He stood up and walked to the dish, and the rest of them sighed. Kai would never change.

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Blue eyes were scanning the arena. She caught sight of who was walking to the dish and looked to the Team's owner, who stood beside her in the suite's balcony-type area. She leaned casually against the raining, catching his confusion.

"His opponent has a bad rep," the woman said quietly.

Dickenson nodded. "That's not good. What's your take on this?"

She sighed. Mr. Dickenson had asked her to come and give her oppinion, since he knew she would be around anyway. She thought for a moment before making her call. "He stands a chance, but I know, and you know he's going to get creamed."

Mr. Dickenson sighed. "You should have more faith in him, Marissa."

"I should have a lot more to say to that, but I'm keeping my mouth shut," she said, in a near silent whisper.

A head tilted in her direcition. "What was that?" He asked.

She shook her head. "Nothing," She lied. Nothing he needed to know about, that was. A sinking suspicion in the bottom of her stomach said things were going to go downhill.

And as the battle started, that feeling didn't go away either.

Kai started off quickly, taking off with a steady launch. His opponent, a kid named Brandon, also had a very skilled launch, which gave him a boost of speed for some clean cut action. Kai staged the first attack, only to have a large chunk of his defense ring hacked off.

"How'd he-"

Mr. Dickenson watched curiously at the magnified screen. "This is bad," They heard, coming from the bench.

"Pull it together," She said quietly. "God, he's gotta pull it together."

The chairman sent her a confused glance. "How do you know?"

She sighed and looked out at his faltering attacks. "He's thinking it through, but he's got nothing on the kid. Unless you've got something on a blader like that, you don't stand a chance." Another silent intermission was taken between them, as she watched the blader continuously assault Kai. She noted Hilary wringing the hem of her skirt, and Bryan grabbing her hands to stop her. She smirked at his actions, as she knew that Bryan couldn't stand people getting nervous. It was contageous to him, and she knew he hated it.

Her blue eyes remained fixed on the beyblades from that point on, except for a quick glance on either blader. Bitbeasts became involved rather quickly, and then the real battle started.

She however, knew, and she prayed that the others knew. Brandon, Kai's opponent, used his flashy bit beast to distract his opponents from the dish, resulting in assaults to the blade, resulting pain to ricochet through both Kai and Dranzer.

Mr. Dickenson kept his eyes on the bit beasts before him. "Kai's the underdog type. He'll be alright."

A few moments later, Marissa's hand went to her belt. She noted her boss's shaky hands while she brought the walkie-talkie that all those used as security possessed. Bringing it to her lips, she licked them before speaking. "I want a medical team on standby, copy?"

The chairman's eyes diverted to her. "What are you doing?" He asked, incredulously. "That's not your-"

"You wanted my oppinion on the battle and you got it." She said, re-attaching the communications device to her belt. "It's just for safety."

Since this battle wasn't even a B.B.A. battle, the chairman wasn't allowed to make calls on when a battle got out of hand. However each team had special security, and medical staff that they alway able to reach- and in situations like this- frequent communication.

Kai was getting beat up, but at least his opponent was too. Both had scratches on their faces, bruises, and a few brushburns, from being pushed to the ground.

"DRANZER!"

"Shit."

The chairman didn't comment on her profanity, rather, she heard a string of what she assumed to be curses in a language she didn't quite comprehend. Kai's call for his bit beast was in a bit of desperation. This type of cry for his partner would result either one of two ways. He would be painfully beaten, or he would overcome like the underdog he happens to be.

Flames surged from around the dish, and Brandon's attack was also called. It was terribly powerful, and the colliding of the two beasts resulted in quite a blinding explosion.

"KAI!"

The ref waited, his hand blocking his eyes from the blinding light. It was when the light died down, that he made the call.

"The victory goes to... Team B.B.A.!"

The crowd cheered, and the victorious team let out a universal sigh. Their battle was over.

From up in the suite, Mr. Dickenson nudged the girl standing beside him. "You said he'd lose."

"No," She said stubbornly, "I said he'd get creamed. Have you not taken a look at him?"

The chairman gasped at the sight of the victorious blader. He held the fragments of his beyblade in his right hand, and was limping noticibly- a sign that he was unable to hide his injuries, something he usually did.

Hilary was the first to leave the bench, catching him under the left arm, to try and steady him. He didn't bother pushing her away, even if he had wanted to, his strength would not have warranted any such movement.

"Kai," Hilary said quietly, "You alright?"

He nodded slowly, wincing as his left foot hit the floor. Ray had come to his other side, helping him stay upright.

"Wow, man, we shouldn't have let you take that one. That was crazy."

Kai's once shut eyes snapped open rather quickly, and he straightened up. Hilary loomed closeby, but both she and Ray let go of him.

Tyson agreed with the last statement, which had come from Tala. The rest of the group voiced their agreement, and Kai smirked, his eyes shining with a victorious sense of pride.

From up in the suite, which was located within earshot of the bench, Marissa smirked. "Well I'll be," She said, mystified. "Punk-ass kid stole my line."

"I've got to get down there. Can I trust you to-"

"Consider it done."

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"I'm your captain. That's what a captain does."

Tala stared at Kai in absolute shock before his eyes softened. Kai's strength faultered and he found himself in Hilary's firm grasp. Spencer's broad hand steadied the captain's back. Bryan said nothing, his usual collected nature shattered by Kai's comment.

When Tala and Bryan locked eyes, they exchanged the same memory. One that the rest of their group knew.

"You did good, Kai."

All eyes went to Bryan, shocked at his praise of the battered Russian. Kai raised his head and sincerely smiled in gratitude before he dropped his head onto Hilary's shoulder. Hilary noted Kai's breathing coming in shorter, spaced out breaths, before he sighed, and his eyes closed.

"We need a medic!" Tyson called, extremely flustered. Ray looked to Bryan curiously. Their previous battle from years past loomed in their minds, but each was willing to move beyond it. Ray was one of few people on the team that the Russian members could tolerate.

"Dude, what was that about?"

Bryan said nothing for a moment, before coming close to Ray's ear. "Kai's on his honor as a captain. Someone once took it for us, and he repaid his debts by doing the same.

Without warning, the chairman of the B.B.A. came as fast as his legs could carry him. Hilary had lowered both herself and the unconscious Kai to the floor, and was crying over his form, her eyes full of sorrow and fright for the boy's health.

"The medics will be here any moment. They were put on standby." Hilary looked up at Mr. Dickenson before she nodded and looked back down at Kai, whose head rested in her lap. She ran her hand down the side of his face, which seemed to help calm both her, and his breathing. Tala looked down at her, not too skilled in words of encouragement. However, Bryan had just given a compliment, so he could be encouraging.

Instead of choosing words, the red headed, blue eyed Russian put his hand on her shoulder as the medics raised the boy off her lap. She stood up and was pulled into Max, but not soon enough that she didn't thank the Russian.

"Two for two," Ian said from behind them. "Kind of like me with a gun."

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Needless to say, the hospital's waiting room was overly crowded and unhealthily silent. The B.B.A.'s best and brightest waited impatiently for word of their fallen captain, who was rushed into the intensive care unit as fast as possible. Every member of their group went out of their way to watch Hilary's emotionally unbalanced state.

Tala had nudged Max at some point and gave him a pointed glance before looking to Hilary, and the doors from which a doctor would come, bearing news. Tyson had also caught this exchange and nodded to Tala. Max looked down at the girl whose sobbing had just recently slowed, though she still had her head buried in Max's shirt. She had fallen into what they took to be a fitful sleep.

Max looked up at Tala and shrugged, while Ray smiled knowingly. "I can tell, though I'm sure he's been oblivious."

"He's nice to her," Spencer said quietly. "They talk a lot."

The look on Daichi's face was priceless. "But he never says more than a 'hn' around us!"

Ray laughed quietly. "Keep it down Daichi, let's not wake up everyone here. It's Hilary's private business, though I think it's cute that she has a crush on Kai."

There was a chuckle from Mr. Dickenson's side of the room. "I just hope Kai's alright."

Murmurs of agreement were heard throughout the room, which fell into a bit of easier silence for the time being.

A few hours later, once the group was a bit more awake and in possession of coffee, the doctor entered the room of impatient teens. Mr. Dickenson and Tyson's grandfather had also made an appearance, as to provide a bit of supervision for Daichi. If it wasn't for Kai and his own status, and Mr. Dickenson's persuasive ways, the boy wouldn't have been permitted on the floor they were currently on.

Tyson jumped to his feet, the suspense killing him. Had it not been for Michael and Spencer, Tyson just might have gone for the doctor's throat.

"What's the word, Doc?" Tyson's grandfather asked, his 'hip, cool' vib shining through. Hilary pressed a hand over her heart, and to her right, Mariah grabbed her spare one, clenching it tightly, praying for the good news...

The doctor took a steady breath, daring to look at the group before giving them the verdict on their friend.

"Well?" Tala asked impatiently. "Spit it out!"

"Your friend Kai," The doctor began, now thoroughly intimidated by the room full of the world's best bladers, "Is, well, a mess."

Hilary's temper surged through her. "Don't you think we know that?"

"Yes, but, his ankle, thankfully, isn't broken. It's a minor sprain and it will be fine within a week or so. But that's not the main problem."

"Can we go see him?"

"Two at a time, but I must warn you."

"Of?" Even Max was beginning to lose his temper with the doctor who was nearly ready to piss his pants.

The doctor sighed. "Your friend Kai," the man ran a hand through his spiky chestnut hair, "is in a coma."

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Distant Storm: please don't kill me! I'll try to update soon, promise!

Tala: Yeah, yeah, you say that all the time, and then you went and joined that stupid musical.

Distant Storm: I'll cut you from the redneck hockey team.

Tala: You'll be doomed to a world without the ultimate form of sexiness... me!

Distant Storm: Oh, Kai, where are you?

Kai: (comes from out of nowhere) Just review. I'll knock them out soon.

Tala: I don't get it.

Kai: She thinks I'm hotter, retard.

Tala: No. Why the hell do Meg and Jess own our hockey team, and why the hell is it the _REDNECK_ Hockey Team. We're F-ing Russian!

Distant Storm: Okay, we're done. Well, now that I've tied them up with Kai's scarf at least.

REVIEW, and we shall find out what chaos shall ensue.

Distant Storm, signing off!


	5. Rival Instinct

**Author's Notes:** Well now, where to start. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! It is soooo cold outside and I don't want to go to school. It's like 20 degrees farenheit and we're due for over a foot of snow. Ugh. Anyway, I hope no one is ready to kill me because of last chapter... but if so, well now, I guess you'll be slightly happy to see that I updated...

Kai: Yeah. Not really.

DS: Jess never said you couldn't get kicked off the Redneck Hockey Team.

Tala: Why the hell is it REDNECK?

DS: Dunno.

Kai:You know you won't kick me off, Meg. You like watching us practice a little too much.

Tala: He's got you there.

DS: Ahh, but I hold the threats... and... Kai's scarf. What now?

-Kai starts chasing Authoress around-

Tala: I'll take it that I should do the disclaimer while she's running like a madwoman from Kai.

-Screaming and Chaos-

Max:(appears from out of nowhere) Distant Storm, aka Meg, doesn't own Beyblade, but she does own Marissa. And the plot.

-Everyone freezes-

Kai: Where the hell did you come from?

Max: Places... (shifty eyes)

Kai: You stole my disclaimer!

Tala: You'll live. But since I might not(Kai glares at Tala without mercy), let's get this show on the road!

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Rival Instinct

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I'm not surprised that Hilary's pretty upset, but she's grown rather distant. I mean, I walk into the room and she'll be talking to someone on the phone, then she'll look up, see me, and suddenly she's rushing to get off of it as fast as she possibly can. I understand that people like privacy, and maybe she's got a secret boyfriend, which would piss Kai off, but I highly doubt it. I just want to know what's going on. We're all pretty upset about Kai. So was Mr. Dickenson, who threw the entire course of events off by demanding a two-week hiatus for our team. Whoever's running this ordeal obliged, so that means that they're not totally evil. Shocking, isn't it?

"Hey, Ray, tell the others that I'm going to see Kai. And tell them to try and practice, okay?" Hilary beams as best she can, which isn't very much but, her attempt is sweet. I nod, and think on the word practice. Now would be the time when Hiro would come in handy, even if the Demolition Boys wouldn't listen to him.

For a moment, I hear Tala come into the doorway, and he rests on it casually. "She goes every day, doesn't she?"

"I think so," I say quietly. We all feel the effects of Kai's absence. Not one of us has practiced with anyone else.

Mariah walks into the room, edging past Tala, who moves out of the way. She smiles. "You're fine," She says and I smirk at Tala. I'm about as good as Kai is at these things, even if I have no idea why the hell Mariah would have any interest in Tala. Whatever. I think it's better off that Lee deals with it, but I should probably warn him. Or, get revenge and say nothing. I'm not sure yet about that choice.

She moves to the stove, pushes a few stray hairs behind her ears and breaks out the tea kettle, filling it with water and placing it on a lit burner in the back. "I'm having tea, you guys want some, or are you too manly?"

I laugh. "I think there's green tea, up there, 'Riah." Tala glares and a roll my eyes.

She looks to Tala and places a hand on her hip before I get a teasing backhand to the back of my head. "Stop instigating. Tala, want anything?"

He nods and requests more of the same. I bite back a laugh, as these antics are slightly hilarious. Tala sits down across from me, so that both of us are adjacent to Mariah. From out of the corner of my eye, the phone rings, and I dive for it. Then I realize, as Mariah laughs, it wasn't the house phone, but rather, the strawberry chocolate phone that Hilary had bought herself a few weeks back(the Straberry Chocolate is property of verison, not me). It rang to a different tone than I had ever heard before, catching me off guard. I wasn't expecting to hear a Green Day song out of something belonging to her, but "Good Riddance" came ricocheting towards us via sound waves. I slid it up to answer, being met by a familiar voice.

"Hil?"

Okay, so I thought it was familiar. It sounded just like the owner of the phone, but a bit more mature. I did a slight double take. "No, this is Ray Kon. She went out."

"Oh." She sounds slightly caught off guard and I smile.

"Want me to take a message?"

She thinks for a moment, and after a slight pause she answers. "Nah, I'll probably run into her. Thanks anyway, sweetie."

I felt a slight blush rise to my cheeks, and I heard Mariah laugh again, before Tala cleared his throat. Probably to stop him from laughing too.

After I'm sure that she hung up, I sit back down infront of a hot cup of green tea. I take a sip and note two sets of eyes on mine.

"Who poisoned my tea?" I ask, and Mariah raises a hand. I shove her and she laughs. Blue eyes meet mine and I nod my head, to try and get the message to him. Mariah isn't my type, and I don't think Tala gets that. We're like best friends, but nothing more. She's more like my sister.

"So," Mariah says, filling the silence, "Flirting with Hilary's friends?"

"Ha ha," I say and roll my eyes. "She sounded nice, but I didn't even catch her name."

"But she sounds like a prospect," Mariah says slyly.

I shrug. "Possibly. What about you?" I ask.

She blushes and Tala grows furious, but hides it as best he can. "There's someone."

"You with them?"

I note Tala's question, and she shakes her head, growing redder. A knowing smile crosses my features. Tala catches it and gives me a curious look.

"You've got a shot, I'm sure," I say and a smile immediately crosses her features. She looks to Tala and he nods. It makes me laugh, that they're sitting there totally oblivious to each other.

Max enters now, and I can tell he's looking for someone, most likely Hilary.

"She go visit Kai again?" He asks, upon scouting the kitchen. His eyes grew sad when we nodded. "She does that too much. I don't want her to drown in her hope."

"She'll be fine," Tala says. "Trust me, she's not hoping too much, Max."

Max looks shell-shocked. "Did Tala just try to be encouraging?"

We nod.

"Community service," He responds with a smirk. "Once in a lifetime thing."

I roll my eyes and take another sip of my tea. "She told us to practice."

Tala's features twisted into a demented smile. "Can we kill Tyson first?"

Mariah gave Tala a brilliant smile, her eyes lighting up for the first time in a while as she laughed. "We might not have a choice."

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"You guys suck."

"You can't take control like that, dude!" Michael was getting annoyed. Tyson, as they had all predicted, decided to take control of the entire training ordeal. It wasn't working out, since Tyson didn't understand how to pace people while training. They couldn't go from zero to one-hundred percent output every time, or else they'd have nothing left.

Tala decided to shove Tyson out of the way, knocking his beyblade out of the practice dish in the process. This pissed off the blunette who took the opportunity to tackle Tala right back, with a vicious combination of his head and arms.

While those two were wrestling, the rest of the group cursed angrily. Things were still out of control. The remaining two girls, Mariah and Emily, were cowering in the back with Max, Daichi, and Emily, who didn't want to get involved. Without a second's hesitation, Ray stood up, along with Spencer, separating the two. Ray grabbed Tyson and the blunette was flung behind the neko-jin like a rag doll, where as Spencer took Tala and threw him over his shoulder, so he landed on his ass. There was so much of Kai in the move Ray had just done that it took them all a moment or two to process it.

"Alright," The Neko-Jin stated angrily. "You two cool it."

Lee gripped Tyson by the shoulder, holding him down, while Bryan and Ian kept Tala at bay. "Dudes, what's all the comotion? You're throwin' off my hip groove." All the members of the group froze at the sight of Tyson's grandfather, with the exception of Tala, who got up cool and brushed it off.

The elder, however, was not stupid. He jumped off the back deck with poise and an almost graceful appearance for his age, while Tyson stared in absolute shock. He was done. Like the dinner he hadn't been able to eat this night, he noted sadly.

"Little Dude, you've been gettin' in the T-Man's grill, haven't ya?"

The blunette wasn't given the chance to answer as his grandpa had pulled him up and begun to drag him in the direction of the front of the house. A few moments later, shouts of protest, followed by the contact one could only associate with kendo were heard. Tala began to laugh, but stopped as soon as he saw Mariah's angry face.

"This isn't working, Ray; what are we going to do?"

"Yeah, man," Michael added, "We're like done for if we don't pull it together."

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Ray said, looking across the yard where the Demolition Boys stood, stoic and alone. "We need Kai."

"Hell, I don't know if Kai can help us now," Kenny said. All eyes were suddenly turned to him in astonishment of his words.

"He's got a point," Bryan piped up with. "Tyson's only tolerable until a point. And after that, well, God only knows. Besides," He continued, his word count for the day already higher than that of the last week, "we're the ones who worked with Kai for the past while. We don't function like you all and your cutesy little teams."

Ray slapped a hand to his forehead. God, he thought sadly, Kai put up with a hell of a lot of shit.

xxxxxxxxxx

Marissa smiled as she spoke quietly to the nurse, who smiled solemly, bits of remorse radiating from her eyes. "He's in room fifteen-C, down the corridor to your left. And just remind me who you are again?"

"I'm his girlfriend's sister."

"Alright, she's already down there, so go ahead."

With a nod and some gratitude, Marissa walked quietly down the hall, keeping her head up high, despite the pit of sorrow in her stomach. Nothing good ever seemed to come their way, or if it did, it was quickly swallowed up in something horrible.

Upon reaching the room, Marissa knocked twice, causing Hilary to look up. She smiled at the thought of Hilary being Kai's girlfriend, as that was the excuse used to get Hilary there each day without curiosity, or a drilling of questions at every turn. She was always guided calmly and kindly to the room and left without interruptions of any kind.

"Nothing's changed, has it?"

Hilary shook her head. "No," she said quietly. "The guys are all on edge. I got a phone call from Ray about twenty minutes ago, and he said that practice ended up in a Tyson and Tala brawl. Actually it didn't really qualify as practice seeing as they had only had their beyblades spinning for about twenty seconds." She sighed and slouched back into the chair beside Kai's head, her hand still interlocked with his.

"He's a fighter, he'll be okay."

"I know," Hilary said thoughtfully. "But it just makes me think, you know?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you call me to say you were coming?"

"I did," Marissa said, with a sweet smile. "I think your phone isn't on you, since I also talked to Ray Kon today."

Hilary's face became ashen. "Does he-"

"Honey, calm down. He's got no idea. He got a little confused because of my voice I think, but it's no biggie." Marissa sat down beside her sister before tracing the side of Kai's face with her thumb. "He feels cold."

"Is that bad?"

"No," Marissa answered. "He was raised in the cold. He's a Russian to the core, and he'll be damned if anyone forgets it. He's got you and his friends and that's all he'll ever need, even if he'd die before admitting it."

"He told me," She said quietly, before livening up. "He's still a glacier though."

"Yeah, the squirt is a sourpuss, isn't he?"

"Oh man, you should've been there the time he put Tyson through the ringer."

"What'd Tyson do? Steal the scarf?"

"No, he spilt some punch..."

"The red kind?"

"The red kind," Hilary confirmed. "Let's just say that when you mix blue hair and yellow dye, you get a bright, neon green."

"And I bet that didn't want to come out."

The duo laughed for a moment.

"He's a good guy."

"He is," Marissa said, before they lapsed into silence.

Hilary thought for a moment. "Do you think I have a chance?"

Marissa smiled at her. "Let's take this one step at a time, hon, God only knows what tomorrow's gonna bring." Hilary sobered up for a moment, but Marissa continued. "I'm sure, when the time comes, you'll be a hell of a lot higher on his list than all his fangirls."

"I guess, but he won't have any fangirls left if we can't pull it together. The Demolition Boys are even worse off than usual, in the silent and angsty department."

"They miss Kai too, you know," Marissa said thoughtfully. "But they are stubborn bastards."

"I don't think anyone's gonna be able to control them."

"Then I think we might have to work this out ourselves, now won't we?" A sly smile crossed Marissa's face before the gears in Hilary's mind began to turn.

"What did you have in mind?"

xxxxxxxxxx

Hilary's mouth had twisted into a smile. Despite their lack of a captain, and the possible brawl that could erupt at any moment, she was prepared for the day, and it's battle. They had at least decided that Ray would be going first, as the group had seen his improvements the day before. He was calm, though the brunette female knew that in the back of his head, he was also nervous about the impending brawl.

"Ray," Hilary said quietly.

"Yeah?" He answered back, judging by her volume it wasn't something to be heard by the group.

"Don't worry about them getting out of control. I have an idea, and trust me, even the Demolition Boys will listen." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "You just worry about your battle."

Ray smiled. "I'm not worried about that. After last time, I'm more than ready to take someone out."

Mariah's voice came to them from across the room. "Well don't get too cocky, Ray, I don't want anything to happen to you."

The following growl was assumed to be Tala's to which Max giggled. "Don't worry, she likes you," Max said sweetly, "I think Tyson read her diary, but don't tell her that."

Tala nodded thoughtfully. This was interesting information.

"Bladers to the dish!"

Ray flashed a cheeky smile and a thumbs-up to his team mates before walking up the steps to the same dish they had used two weeks earlier. The neko-jin gulped at a feeling of Dé ja vu, but pushed it down, silently dedicating the match- and by that he meant his victory- to his captain. He had a feeling that he wouldn't be the only one doing so in the next few matches as well.

The DJ- not Jazzman- looked from blader to blader. "Ready?"

There was a nod. "Let's go," Ray's opponent said, a young woman with long violet hair.

Ray's grip tightened on the launcher and rip cord. "Let's do this."

"Three... two... one!"

"LET IT RIP!"

Both Ray and his opponent made solid launches, and Ray saw what he was up against in the next few minutes. The girl he was battling had an offensive style blade, but it didn't have much speed, so he could easily attack when she wasn't prepared, even if it was for a timeframe of three seconds.

Hilary easily foresaw Ray's victory, which he completed without use of Drigger. Their team cheered for their lead. It would take only one more battle to which they had to win. They had a little leeway...

But then the fighting broke out.

Ray quickly separated Tyson from Tala, who insisted that he should go next. That angered Max, who also wanted to fight. Ray and Bryan, both of whom were previous enemies, said nothing, though, after a time, Ray gave up on Tyson and sat down next to Bryan. Hilary looked on the verge of tears. She was no Kai, she couldn't separate them all. Kai could silence them by raising his voice. She could scream bloody murder and they'd pay it no mind.

Without a word, the girl sat down on the edge of the bench, next to Ray, drew out her cell phone, opened it up and texted someone. He wasn't sure what she was saying but she did it quickly. The next minute, she stood up, looked between Ray and Bryan and sighed.

"Guys, I'll be back in a second. I gotta clear my head. Try not to rip your heads off, I know it's tempting."

Ray nodded and Bryan closed his eyes, however, she knew he probably agreed as she rushed off.

It was in the girl's bathroom near the lobby that she met up with Marissa, who had received her text message.

"Okay, just put on sunglasses," Hilary said.

Marissa nodded. "You too. Our eyes are a dead give away." She paused and looked at Hilary. "Good, you've got a green shirt on. Dickenson won't notice, just give me the hoodie to hide my hair."

"What are you going to be 'in the hood?'"

There was a smirk and smile. "If it's necessary. Here, take my coat. I'll trade you after, mkay?"

"Yeah, thanks."

Marissa threw Hilary's yellow hoodie on, zipping it up partway in the front before sliding the hood over her head, hiding the longest parts of her hair as to make it look as though she had Hilary's pixie cut, something that was definitely a lie. Her hair was still a little wavy, but she made it look like Hilary's if one didn't stare at her for too long.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

"Hang on," Marissa said, coming up behind Hilary. "Put your hair up. Dickenson will know if you come back up to the box and suddenly I'm lacking five inches of hair."

Hilary giggled. "Yeah, probably." The girl took the pony-tail holder from her sister and pulled her hair back in it, then fastened it so it wouldn't move.

"Okay," Marissa said quietly, "Now we're ready."

"Okay, let's do it."

xxxxxxxxxx

Marissa prayed that if Dickenson realized that it wasn't herself up there in the suite with him, he wouldn't realize it until they had won, which she was assured was going to happen. She immediately felt the impending surge of adrenaline in her system and realized that she had not headed a team in a long time, with or without their permission. She walked down the corridor toward the B.B.A.'s bench, noting that they were still fighting, and the crowd's anger at the delay.

The DJ was discussing with some of the officials and when he was about to make the decision-

"Bryan, you're up."

Now, Marissa didn't scream it, but she said it loud enough for a few people in the crowd to hear it. She was already angry. To her right, there were about ten people fighting over who should go next. She wouldn't be taking any of that shit, nuh uh.

Bryan turned and stared at her, and with her sunglasses on, she felt like a bitch already. He stood up and walked to the dish, causing pandimonium amongst the bladers and techs who were trying to decide who would be going up next.

"Wait a fucking second," Tala said, turning to her. "Who gives you the right to decide the battles?"

"Yeah, Hil," Tyson said angrily, getting in her face, "This isn't your decision."

Marissa smirked and said nothing, side-stepping them both and moving to the bench to sit next to Ray. Ray glanced at her. "You sure that putting Bryan in is a good idea?" She nodded and he said nothing, taking it as a sign that she didn't want to talk.

However, Bryan looked at her in shock. Something about her command stirred something in him. He threw a look her direction and she nodded in encouragement.

So, it was with this, that Bryan went, and somehow- for some reason beyond his comprehention, fought with such renewed spirit, that his team mates couldn't help but stop and stare. He felt it, his bit beast felt it. The battle seemed like an overstated dream sequence that lasted- about fifteen seconds before his opponent was dealt a catastrophic loss.

From up in the suites, Mr. Dickenson looked on happily. "Marissa, you said that Bryan could pull through. Now I see what you mean."

Hilary smiled and nodded, keeping her sunglasses in place, despite how much darker everything was. Her sister was probably a good judge of them seeing as she had been their captain.

"Oh no. I don't care that we won, I wanna know why _that_ bitch is making decisions. We're all supposed to be a team, and since we're not working with that, I don't think that some little _girl_ should be taking charge!"

"Shut up Tala."

Hilary recognized Mariah's voice, and the resounding slap. Bryan walked cooly down from the dish and applause to sit next to Ray.

"Dude, you just might have a point." Michael, Hilary remembered. "Like, no offense, Hil, but you're not Kai and you'll never be."

"I suppose I should go down there and at least meet them in the lobby before I take them back into my office and scold them, shouldn't I?"

Hilary nodded.

"You're welcome to join me, Marissa. It'll leave more of a mark that someone else was there to witness it."

xxxxxxxxxx

**Author's Notes: **Well now, I hope that the lack of Kai doesn't turn you off, because he'll be in there, I mean, I'm not gonna kill him... so yeah. Just review, and tell me if it didn't completely suck, I didn't want to make this chapter like super long and have nothing for the next one. Something tells me, and should tell you that the whole switch thing isn't going to come off as smoothly as planned. And I'm going to guess, just guess, tell me otherwise, that you wouldn't mind if I paired Marissa and Ray up. Which I might- but might not- do. I don't know if I want her paired up in this fic.

Kai: Am I supposed to be happy?

DS: Well, Mr. 'Antisocial-is-a-good-thing,' yes. I didn't kill you. That was fair, wasn't it?

Kai: Oh yeah, I get stuck with a fangirl.

Tala: But you're still on the Redneck Hockey team.

Kai: And this makes me feel better?

Tyson: She didn't put me on the Redneck Hockey team... hey, wait! What is the Redneck Hockey Team?

Tala, Kai, DS: you're too fat for it. Go away.

haha, okay, I'm done, review... I DARE YOU.

Distant Storm, signing off!


	6. What the Heck is Going on Here?

**Author's Notes:** TODAY IS A... SNOW DAY! Therefore, I can write a chapter in peace with myself... so go me. Thanks goes out to all my reviewers, who totally kick ass. Or whatever they wanna kick. I guess it's the school's valentine's day present to us, seeing as they keep school open when the weather sucks but today, it's not bad and they're like... screw it, you're closed. Either that or our interm-super didn't want to get out of bed today... either way, works for me, lol.

DS: SNOW DAAAY!!!

Kai: shut it. normal people sleep at this hour.

Tala: Then wake up, because if you're normal, well, that's bad for the world's population.

DS: Behave. Someone do the disclaimer then call up the team.

Tala: Which one?

Kai: The one we tolerate.

-Tala scratches out G-Revolutions-

Kai(Again): DS doesn't own Beyblade. So basically, our little bull session is her way of getting that info to you. Congrats. You've been punked.

DS: WRONG TV show, you're on BEYBLADE, remember?

xxxxxxxxxx

What the Heck is Going On Here?

xxxxxxxxxx

I, personally, can't stand her. Who does she think she is? She's not me, she's not Kai, what the hell? Hilary doesn't deserve to make decisions when she's just a little whelp who can't even beyblade!

She stands up and looks at me, through those stupid sunglasses. Apparently, she didn't get the memo, the dumb bimbo. We're _inside_. Wow... sunglasses are used when? When you're _outside._

"It doesn't matter, we won anyway," Max says behind me, a slight bit of fright in his voice coming through.

"Shut up," I say, and he gulps. Scardy-ass. Hilary stands up, her fucking hood on and all that shit, she's not undercover, but maybe she's trying to stop herself from crying by covering herself up. I don't fucking know, and I don't care, it's just the fact that she looks like a fucking idiot.

To my right, Ray gets up, with Bryan, from the bench and the two make their way to the corridor leading to the team room- hold on, let me laugh at that, because it's a **joke**. We aren't a team. They're a bunch of assholes. Without Kai, there's no point to any of this.

Tyson is steamed too, at least, he looks like it. Maybe we do agree on something. Hilary was _waaay_ out of line. And I'm going to let her know that too.

Following the rest of the group- Ian and Spencer are behind me, Bryan and Ray are ahead of me, and beyond them, is Hilary, who didn't stop at the team room, we keep walking. Everyone else follows her, confused. I don't think she cares, because that stride is the stride of a pissed off bitch. The bitch part is right, but we won, so why should she be pissed? She's the _manager_ not the captain.

Without a second thought, she gets tangled up in the masses that have suddenly poured into the lobby. Ray, Bryan, Tyson and myself- and probably Ian and Spencer who are still behind me, follow her into the between match mosh pit praying to whatever powers that be that we don't get trampled, or if someone does, that it's Hilary, Tyson, or in my case, Daichi. Though compared to Tyson, he's been tolerable lately.

Which is pathetic.

I notice that Hilary stops in front of a vender, gets something to drink and then turns around, face to face with Ray and Bryan. She easily edges away from them, as they were holding up the line. Within about twenty seconds, Tyson's voice cuts through the rest of the crowd's noise.

"What the hell was that?"

My thoughts exactly, Tyson. Hell, maybe he isn't so off kilter after- okay, forget that. That was a delusional thought.

She says nothing, and by the time we reach her, Tyson has her by the arm. She breaks free and growls at him, like Mariah- who I should probably ipologize to later- would. I get up to the front of the group and look at her. God, she pisses me off.

"Who the hell do you think you are, Hilary?"

"What's going on?"

xxxxxxxxxx

"What's going on?" Hilary looked ahead at the group of her team mates, screaming at both each other and then at the person in the front of the group, most likely Marissa.

Mr. Dickenson sighed. "Marissa, I'll-"

"No," Hilary said to him, taking a step forward. "I'll do it."

"Alright, but then I'm going to have a word with them."

She nodded and took a few steps toward Ray and Bryan, who were generally content with their victories, but angry at their team's lack of togetherness. "Ray, what the heck's going on?"

"They're just ganging up on Hil-" He turned around, confused. "But you're up there-"

She shrugged and Ray thought for a minute trying to make sense of it.

Bryan was getting impatient. "Who the hell are you? A Hilary look alike?"

"No, babe," Hilary said with a beautiful smile, a wink, and a laugh, "I'm the real thing."

Despite the shellshocked faces of both Ray and Bryan, not to mention the confusion on Mr. Dickenson's face(he hadn't heard the conversation), Hilary pressed through the crowd, to the front of it. Tala was practically screaming in her face, and Hilary decided not to do anything for the time being.

"Do you really think that we need someone like you making decisions? Who the hell do you think you are, you good for nothing-" His hand went up towards her, as if to slap her across the face, however, lightning-fast reflexes caught up to him much sooner, and his slap was stopped by the collision of his forearm with hers. And by hers, it wasn't Hilary's, as she was still behind Tala, waiting for things to play out. "Wh- how did you-"

Hilary took this opportunity to push past Tala, who was seemingly at a loss of words- not like they typically came easily to him, but you get the idea. "I wanted to return this to you."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Mr. Dickenson, Bryan, and Ray looped around the group to end up in the front of it, and the rest of it's members fanned out into a horseshoe of confusion. "Marissa, what's going on here?"

Marissa looked at her sister, who took off the dark grey coat, and handed it to her. "Thanks for letting me use this," Hilary said again, rephrasing what she had said earlier.

A smile was exchanged between the two girls, and Hilary took out the hair tie, her hair falling above her shoulders, as it usually did. Mr. Dickenson looked at Hilary from behind. "Alright, someone had better explain."

"Who the hell is Marissa?" Tyson asked, both frustrated and completely confused. Looks of bewilderment were etched on the rest of the team's faces. Li and Mariah were chatting with Emily and Max over the strange occurrances, but eventually, they all died down. "Well?"

The first time the B.B.A.'s founder said 'Marissa,' there was a slight reaction that occurred in the heads of each Demolition Boy. At this point in time, they had gathered together before the two girls, while Tala was still fuming.

Mr. Dickenson tapped his foot angrily, waiting for one of the two girls to begin talking. Hilary looked to Marissa in fear, as the girl approached Tala. "You know, never once, had I even thought of having a problem with taking something for you. I never thought I'd be taking something _from_ you," She said with a tart tone. With that, the girl stepped over to Hilary, and unzipped the front of her sister's hoodie. The top of the halter beneath was visible, and she took the yellow hoodie off completely, trading it for the jacket, which she slung over an arm.

It was at this point, that a distinct difference was seen between the two girls: the length of their hair. Hilary's was short and in a pixie cut, where as the other girl's hair fell to her shoulder blades in easy waves with a few defined curls on the end. Her hair was also just a slightly insignificant shade darker, but the two girls, definitely looked alike. Of course the one with the longer hair had about two inches on Hilary, who was obviously younger.

"What is going on?" Tala asked, repeating words said probably six times before. "Someone had better talk. Which one of you is Hilary?"

Hilary raised a hand and took off her sunglasses, her ruby eyes shimmering back at them. "I am."

"Then who the hell was I yelling at?"

Without any care in the world, Marissa walked to Mr. Dickenson, her heels clicking professionally across the floor, despite her casual attire. "Why did you two switch-"

"Much less dudettes, like, how did you get away with it?"

Bryan's eyes, from behind her, widened. It was all too clear. Michael's question was left by the wayside for the time being. He took a step forward. "Did you say your name was Marissa?"

Mr. Dickenson nodded. Hilary turned around and the rest of the group looked at him strangely.

He approached her quietly, the sounds and time ticking by in the lobby nonexistant. Tala followed, seeing where this was going. In anger, he stepped in front of Bryan. "Give me a break dude, it's not her." The two glared at each other, messages being communicated with only their eyes.

Marissa huffed. "Alright," she said, sliding off her sunglasses. "I knew it was bad, but not this bad." She stepped between Bryan and Tala. "Back off each other, would you? I could've disappeared into thin air by now if I wanted to, and you never would've known." She paused, turning to Tala. "Do you think Bryan would've listened to Hilary?" She stopped herself. "Do you think she would've chosen him to battle? I don't."

She turned to Bryan. "As for you," she said, using her sunglasses to keep the hair out of her eyes, "Next time, just punch him. You're older anyway." The rest of the group stared at her.

"Now we need an explanation more than ever."

"You think?" Marissa said. She sidestepped the gobsmacked Demolition Boys, coming up to the rest of the group before stopping in the midst of their horseshoe. "I'm Marissa Tachibana. It's nice to meet you all when you're not screaming at each other."

"Well," Hilary said, coming up next to Marissa, "Now that you've floor my entire team, I guess I should probably explain."

"Wait one minute," Ian and Spencer said, as a silent Bryan placed a hand on Marissa's other shoulder.

She turned away from them and smiled at him with such radiance. "You've grown up," He said finally, looking at her in disbelief. "I didn't think you'd show-"

"I come when I'm needed, whether you want me or not," She said, with a smirk. "God, it's like a rule or something. Anyway, I missed ya, Bry," She said, with a small, however meaningful hug.

He nodded and she threw her head Tala's direction. He was watching her, still in that dream-like state of shock. "Well God," She said, walking to him. "You didn't kill me, so get your ass over here before I beat the living shit out of you. Just because I'm not your captain anymore doesn't mean that I can pummel your ass."

"Captain?"

"Oh shit."

Mr. Dickenson intervened. "Watch your language everyone. Now would someone please-"

Both Hilary and Marissa turned so that most of the group was able to see them both easily. Hilary spoke. "Alright, alright," She said calmly. "Like she said, This is Marissa Tachibana."

The shell shock still stuck to most faces, including that of Mr. Dickenson. Ian nudged Marissa. "What's so huge about that?"

Hilary smiled. "My name is Hilary Tachibana. We're sisters."

"You went and got yourself adopted?" Spencer asked.

"No," Marissa said, with a smile. "We're sisters by blood."

xxxxxxxxxx

The B.B.A. CEO's main office was a tight fit, with more than fifteen people sitting in it. Hilary sat beside Tyson, while across from her sat Marissa, between Tala and Bryan. The rest of the group sat on miscellaneous couches and chairs.

"This is totally De Ja Vu." She looked between the two boys to either side of her. "But it's definitely a good one," she said, quieter. They nodded.

Mr. Dickenson tapped his fingers on his desk, running them from thumb to pinkie on each hand, back and forth. "I cannot believe you two did this."

"I thought you'd be happy," Hilary said accusingly.

Marissa smirked. "Hil, chill out."

The chairman sighed. "I am happy for you, but it doesn't let me deny the severity of your actions. What the two of you did was foolish. Why didn't you come to me-"

"This is nothing permanent," Marissa said, crossing her arms. "I just came to calm down my boys and shut the rest of y'all up."

"'Y'all?'"

Marissa hit Bryan. "Shut it, lavender boy."

"Ha ha, very funny."

"Anyway," Hilary said, "I asked for her help. It was nothing we could've pulled off if we warned you." She looked around. "And from the looks of it, I think we got just about everything- for now- accomplished that we need to."

The impending meeting of Hilary, Marissa, and their Mom and Dad was still being worked out, however that was not the current issue. Hilary motioned to Marissa and her closeness to the Demolition Boys, who practically clung to her.

Ray looked at her for a moment. "Yeah, sweetie?" Marissa asked.

"You're the one I talked to on the phone." She nodded. "How do you know these guys again?"

Marissa looked from Ian, to Spencer, then finally leaned back even more into the black couch and slung an arm around Tala and Bryan, pulling them in closer. "These dolts," She said, affectionately, moreso than the Demolition Boys had ever heard, despite their knowledge of her caring about them, "Are my boys. I coached them into the ground for like what... seven years?"

Bryan and Tala's correction was swift, and there was barely any distinguishment between them- both were in sync.

"Eight."

Marissa smiled. "Thought you'd catch me on that," she said, with a smirk.

The rest of the group looked at her in wonder. "You never told me this," Mr. Dickenson said, breaking the uneasy silence. Hilary looked at the chairman.

"Well," Marissa said placidly, "You never asked."

"That is something I deserve to know." Ian's growl started up the defensive behavior, and the growing anger of the Russians in the corner, save Marissa.

Without hesitation, Ray spoke againg. "She doesn't seem like she's bad," He said. "I mean, she did try to stop all the comotion today," Blushing from embarassment ensued. Hilary nodded.

"She wasn't trying to take anyone's spot, especially not Kai's." The brunette's confidence on the subject was inspiring.

"Well obviously not," Spencer said, "Since Kai was the one who took hers in the first place."

"And why was that?"

"I'll show you." All eyes came to Bryan who looked at Tala. Tala nodded and passed his duffel bag over Marissa's head. She looked on with all others in confusion.

"What the hell is this?" Marissa asked. "We don't have all day."

"We might need it," Tala said.

Bryan took an object out of the bag, causing Marissa to gasp from next to him. Her petite hand traced the object gently, before he placed it on her lap. She stared at it before reaching out and hugging him gently. Bryan was caught off guard, but it was a gesture he returned. The eyes watching them widened almost to the point of popping out of sockets. "You kept this thing?"

There was nodding. Tala spoke. "It was the only thing we had to remember. And by that I mean all of us."

"Don't get too soft there, Ivanov, we've still got a while to go before anything is settled." She flipped open a page and looked to Bryan. "Your handwriting was so bad. And the sad thing is, I can read it." She flipped the red book shut. It seemed to look like a dictionary, as it was so thick, but the cover and spine was void of words. Hilary looked at it in confusion.

"What is that?" She asked, bewildered.

Tala and Bryan picked the book up off her lap and set it down before the chairman. Marissa stood up. "If you want history, there it is. Let me know when you're done with it. But for the time being," She glanced at the Demolition Boys, "My boys and I have some catching up to do."

"This- this is-

Bryan smiled. "The ultimate resume. All first person accounts by us-" He glanced around at his team mates, "And Kai-" attention was drawn from the onlookers, "About everything from life, to death, to Marissa, to Boris and Voltaire. You want to know what we've been through, you read that."

"It's in Russian," Tyson observed.

"No really, dipshit, where the hell are we from?"

Marissa smiled. "There's more than Russian in you all, so shut your yaps."

With that, the group left Mr. Dickenson with the non-Russian part of the team. With that, he began to read...

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**Author's notes:** I think peoples are starting to lose interest in this story. But I can't bring Kai back just yet, it would mess things up. Give it like two chapters, hopefully. I've been really busy, but I'm trying to update as much as humanly possible before I go to my grandparents for like two weeks. I have a lot of things to do, and the three days I have off next week may- or maynot- help me squeeze in an update. Tell me what you want to do, because frankly, I don't think many people like this fic... should I delete?

Please review.

Distant Storm x3

Tala: What, are you too good for us?

Kai: No, she just likes me better.


	7. A Different Kind of Resume

**Author's Notes: **-Hides behind frying pan- Okay, okay, I'm a REALLY REALLY REALLY bad authoress. It's been what, eight months? I've really gotta get moving on this.

Kai: DS doesn't own me. Or Beyblade.

DS: Yet.

Kai: You wouldn't.

DS: Me and my friend Christina plan on a partnership when we're older to buy the Buffalo Sabres, you're no different...

Tala: (goes and hides by Jess)

DS: Ahem.. Tala, she'll buy you the second she gets the chance, so I'd watch out.

Kai: This one goes out to Ray-Tiger-Cat because it's what you wanted.

DS: Hope you like it!

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I wondered sometimes, how it would be, to walk into a room again and have them follow suit. It's slightly wierd now that it's happening, but even that wore out quickly. It feels... right. Currently, Tala's to my left, and Bryan's to my right, both of their arms linked in mine. They're clingy, but I expected either that, or outward denial of my existance.

"Rissa," Tala began quietly, looking at me curiously. "Hilary is really-"

"Didn't you see the resemblance?" Bryan smirked at her. "And the last name, come to think of it."

Ian and Spencer nodded, though they had been caught unaware of that fact. Not like Hilary's last name was of importance to them anyway. Ian looked up at her, still lugging his rifle over his shoulder. "Did you miss us?"

There was a laugh. "No," she said, after a moment. They looked at me with saddened eyes. I smiled again. "_Kaneshenya_," I said sweetly. "I was joking. Why wouldn't I miss you?" Then I thought. Wow, way to go, Marissa. "Don't answer that," I said after a moment. "Let's just move on, kay?"

They seemed a bit more enthused by that, which I was grateful for. God, I didn't want them to think that hate them for what happened. If anything, it made me think I failed, you know? Anyway...

"So where are we going?" Blue met blue. "Well?"

"God, Tala, you've always been impatient. We're going somewhere to train. Because aside from Bryan-" The lavender haired boy smirked victoriously- "your attitude says that you could use some discipline."

"Well God forbid we not have you at all times. You're the one who left-"

That one hurt. Bryan closed his eyes and sighed. "How come you were all gun-ho and nice about this when we were in Dickenson's office?" I sighed to match Bryan and continued. "If you didn't want me here, you should've told me to leave."

"Enough. " Spencer finished for us. Bryan slung an arm over my shoulder and pulled me in. "Hilary's been telling you what's goin' on," Spencer said, his Russian accent making it difficult to distinguish his words.

I personally thought it was cute. "Yeah," I said, and Bryan looked down at me, then stopped walking.

"We didn't mean that."

Tala seemed to be lost in thought. Then I think it dawned on him. I already knew what Bryan meant by his last statement. It was the whole not meaning anything to them thing.

"Come off it," I said at last, growing annoyed. "The past is over, is it not? We need to train because Kai was the top contender. And I want someone to take out Tyson by the time I'm done with you all."

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"23 August 1993," Mr Dickenson said, turning to the first page in the book. The gang leaned in, watching him scan the words before translating them into a summary they could understand.

_My name is Bryan. I'm four years old. Me and my buddy Tala are gonna use this book, I guess, so Boris doesn't hear what we have to say what goes on here. Boris works us to the bone; between having us do stuff the older kids said they learned when they were ten, and making us beyblade. We like to beyblade, but Boris doesn't make it fun. He says we're going to take over the world someday, but I doubt it. I don't want to rule the world._

_I've been here for as long as I can remember, but I sometimes dream of something else. I wasn't here when I was born, I would have had family, but Boris killed them. They must be happy though, because they aren't here._

_There is one other person here with us. I'm watching her now since I'm not good with bandages. Boris never does things to us like he does to Marissa, our trainer. She's five, and she's real talented. I bet she could win some big tournament or something if she wanted to, but she's happy training us. I just wish that she didn't get beaten up all the time._

_-B_

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_17 December 1994_

_This is stupid. I hate Boris, I hate the world, I hate everything but Wolborg and Bryan. Yes Bry, I hate Marissa. It's stupid. I didn't win. It has nothing to do with her, Jordan was better. He's sixteen, afterall. I'm almost six. Doesn't mean she should get hit._

_Great, now she's trying to get up. Bryan's gonna freak. Someday I think I might kill that man._

_-T_

_xxxxxxxxxx_

_30 March 1995_

_Marissa lied! She lied! I can't believe it. Boris told her that he was going to start whipping us too. We deserve it, I guess, since she's the one who gets whipped all the time. She never told us that though, I guess I musta overheard their yelling in his office. He told her he had two options and she refused them both._

_  
Something about being a captain. He laughed at her for being noble and told her it would get her killed. She said it wasn't her intention, whatever that means._

_That wasn't the lie. She told us that he whipped her for our mistakes because that was how it worked. She asked him to take the beatings for us. He asked her if she loves us. She left the office with a broken nose and black eyes, so I think she said yes._

_-T_

_xxxxxxxxxx_

Tala watched with extreme interest as his team mates were put through a test, one at a time. He had been the first to be stung as she blew him out of the water. However, as he watched on, he realized that she was showing her superiority over them. She needed supremacy over them to be sucessful with the rest of the group.

"Spencer, watch it," She called simply.

The boy opposite her nodded gravely. The girl reorganized her attack. "Alright," Spencer said, recognizing the pattern. He attacked, fully aware of the consequences of his attack. He would be the one to win this one.

"Not so fast."

In a swift fluid motion, the girl's beyblade flipped over Spencer's. The group again stared in awe, feeling the acidic burn of being schooled.

"Okay, moving on. Let's go do something else. Good?"

They nodded, retrieving their gear and pushing toward the park's exit. "Where to?" Bryan asked, sliding into his usual place beside her.

She smiled at the lavender haired boy. "Dinner," she said, and looked around. No objections were present, so they continued walking. "You know, I have a quick question."

"What?" Tala asked immediately. There were soft murmurs from the others. Bryan bumped Marissa gently. "What do you want to know?"

Marissa turned and looked at them, bit her lip, and then looked up at the sky. "What the hell is with that monkey-looking kid?"

Laughter ensued from the group. She was so totally one of them.

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"No, c'mon, Mr. D, keep going!"

The chairman sighed as he flipped the book shut. "I've received plenty of proof. She is worthy in my eyes." He looked around. "Do you really want to hear the traumatic things they've been through? They have to have some privacy you know," He finished simply.

Ray stood up and slid open the book, finding a page closer to the middle, where the chairman had just finished reading. The words were large so the pages went fast. However, there was a great deal of pages, and many horrific stories. "We never heard anything from Kai's point of view. Just one entry by Kai?"

Nodding reinforced this concept. "Yeah, dude," Michael chortled, "Like, it would be sweet if you could, like, give something from the ol'sourpuss's point 'o view. We'd, like, get a feel for how much he thinks of her."

"Besides," Mariah said quietly, "I want to know how it ended." She received strange looks. "I mean the story, guys!"

The chairman immediately knew he would be out-numbered, and though he would go through the rest of the book in private, he could not resist at least one entry from the stoic captain himself.

"Alright. Only one, and maybe the ending of the book, though I don't know if we should really go snooping that far."

Hilary smiled. "If they gave you the book, I think they might have expected it."

The chairman nodded, taking it into consideration before he retrieved the book from Ray, flipping it open to a page filled with cool, slim handwriting. Handwriting of a comatose boy in the hospital nearby.

"Here goes..."

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_19 October 1997_

_What is this? Some sort of initiation? You can save it, Bryan, I don't want it. You can act the part of the psychiatrist, but you're just as much of a kid as I am. Stop looking at me too. It pisses me off. Okay, so I saw what the heck happens when I mess up. I never asked for your precious little angel-captain (she-devil, if you ask me) to get herself nearly killed._

_This is not going to be like some crazy confession thing. I'm not sorry. At least, I don't think so. That's what Boris tells me. And if I want to survive I have to be like Boris._

_Speak of the devil..._

_o0o_

_Okay, fine, I admit it. I feel a little bad. Only a little. I never asked for them to beat her up, much less put salt on her wounds. She's a hell of a lot stronger than I anticipated, even if she does cheat to beat me in a beybattle. I'm still going to be the best, whether or not she wanted me to._

_I read some of the crap you said. What is the deal with this? She's done this before? And what's with the girly handwriting at the bottom of the entries? Did she sneak the book and read it when you weren't around or something? I thought she didn't write in this; that's what you said. _

_Just in case you haven't noticed, she told me the reason. She said it's because she's the captain and apparently that's what you do as captain. Some code or something. It's stupid._

eraser marks_)Maybe I'll be able to have a team and do that.(_end eraser marks

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**Author's Notes:** Okay, that was short and rather sucky, but I wanted to post something, despite the short-osity... hopefully I'll update soon, because this got the ball rolling. I have another entry by Tala to be put in for the next chapter. I'm going to delve a bit into the end of the prologue, after I make these losers train a bit... and then some Kai-ness, because we all need a dosage of comatose Kai-kun.

Okay, Ray-Tiger-Cat, hope that was okay... I'll probably edit it, but I wanted to post this before my chorus concert for which I leave in like half an hour!

Thanks for sticking with me and please review!!!!


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